


Kyla's Story

by dottenator, GemmaRose



Series: Kyla's Story [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Kidfic, Luffy is an idiot, Nakamaship, OC-centric, Post-Dressrosa, Sanji is an idiotic mysoginistic cinnamon roll, Zoro is a completely stupid snarky mossball, basically business as usual plus one smol child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-13 11:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4519716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dottenator/pseuds/dottenator, https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the New World, there are people who fall through the cracks. People who live their whole lives under the radar of the Marines and World Government. One such child seeks a better life, but plans are destined to go awry in the most unexpected ways when the Straw Hats get involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Departure

Kyla crouched behind one of the dock posts, looking out at the two ships anchored not so far away. One she recognized, the Valiant Puffer. It belonged to a local, no good for her purposes. The other one was unfamiliar, with a massive flower for the figurehead and a huger mast than she'd ever seen before. That one was leaving in the morning, she'd heard one of the guys who sold swords mention it. It was only a week long trip to get to Soreth Island, or so the nice seamstress had said last year, and so long as they stayed quiet they could leave here and start a new life. Maybe Soreth would even have a big enough city to have an orphanage…

The little girl smiled, and scampered down the pier until she came to the massive boat. In the shadow of the dense cloud and waning moon, Kyla boarded the ship and slipped below decks. It was dark, and she held her free hand out to make sure she didn’t run into any walls. She went down every set of stairs she found, until she came to a room which looked similar to where she’d been hiding when she left her hometown several years ago. Slipping between two crates, she put her back to the hull and slid down until she was seated.

The bundle in her arms stirred, and she shifted the filthy T-shirt’s sleeve to reveal the face of her baby brother. “It’s okay.” she whispered, rocking him gently until he went back to sleep. “It’s okay, we’re gonna find some nice people, and have a family, and a real home.”

She leaned back until her head rested against the solid wood boards of the hull, and willed her stomach not to growl. One week, and they’d be on Soreth. One week, and maybe she’d find somebody to take in her baby brother, if not her. Kyla sighed, and let the gentle bob of the ship and the sound of the waves lull her to sleep. She would be strong, like the men in the wanted posters Mr. Jii was always complaining about. She’d get strong enough to catch one someday, and then she wouldn’t have to worry about living on the streets ever again.


	2. Discovery

“I’m telling you, it’s a ghost!” Usopp insisted, bringing his fist down on the table. “I distinctly heard a baby crying!”

“Are you sure?” Nami grinned mischievously, gaze flicking from Franky to Chopper to Luffy. “We do have some pretty big babies on board.”

“Hey!” Franky frowned, making Zoro chuckle around a mouthful of eggs.

“It definitely wasn’t any of us.” the cyborg protested. “Sounded too echoey to be coming from either bunkroom.”

“See?” Usopp grinned triumphantly for a moment. “I’m telling you, we picked up a ghost at that last island!”

“It’s probably not a ghost, long-nose.” Robin commented, looking up from her book. “For it to be a ghost, the victim would need to have died aboard this ship, and I don’t think there have ever been infants on this vessel. It’s more likely some manner of vengeful sea spirit, taking the form of a child to lure unwary sailors to their deaths.”

The galley was quiet for a second, everybody processing what their archeologist had just said. Then Luffy swallowed his massive mouthful of bacon and yelled “Cool! Can we fight it?”

“Luffy!” Usopp scowled at the captain, who had stretched his arm to steal some bacon from the sniper’s plate. “Remember what happened the last time we fought a sea spirit? We nearly lost all our memories!”

“Well yeah, but this thing wants to kill us, not take our memories.” Luffy mumbled around his food.

Nami rolled her eyes, while Franky and Brook looked confused. Usopp spent the rest of the meal telling the tale of how they’d defeated a great spirit of the sea, with frequent corrections from the crewmates who had been present, but afterwards he grabbed Robin before she could vanish back into the library. She had picked up a pair of new history books on the last island, and the tomes were thick enough that she hadn’t finished them yet.

“What is it, long-nose?” she asked when he said nothing.

“About that, uh, vengeful sea spirit.” the sniper started. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to defeat it, would you?”

Robin smiled slightly, barely a twitch of her lips. “If we pay it no mind, it should grow bored and seek out easier prey.”

Usopp sighed in obvious relief, and straightened up with a grin. “Then I, the great Captain Usopp, will vanquish the beast by ignoring it!” he proclaimed, jabbing his thumb against his chest. “Thanks, Robin.” he grinned, turning and heading for his workshop.

\---

Sanji frowned at the pantry. He had gone to grab a loaf of bread to serve with the soup he was making for dinner, and it wasn’t there. It couldn’t have been Luffy, Luffy never looked in the pantry when he wanted a snack. And on top of that, whoever had taken the bread was sneaky enough to go for a loaf in the back, where it might not have been noticed immediately by a lesser chef. He frowned and picked up the bread he’d been meaning to turn into french toast in the morning. It would have to do, he supposed.

\---

Sanji gritted his teeth, and fished a cigarette from its pack as he headed below decks to the hold. Somebody was trying very hard to steal food in such a way that he wouldn’t notice, and if one of his nakama had decided to get clever about their pantry raiding then he would have to check that they hadn’t swiped anything from the larger storage area at the bottom of the ship. To his surprise, and no small amount of relief, it seemed like nothing had been touched. Everything was still sealed and arranged exactly as he’d left it when they packed the hold the night before leaving port, and he was turning to leave when he heard a small sound.

Crying. It was quickly followed by shushing noises, and a familiar lullaby hummed just fast enough to sound wrong even to his untrained ears.

He followed the sound to a pair of crates which held some of Franky’s supplies, and had to blink a few times to assure himself he wasn’t seeing things. There was barely a foot between the boxes, but squeezed into that space between the crates and the back of the hull was a very small person. A child. He blinked a few more times, assuring himself that he was indeed seeing this, and when familiar footsteps sounded above his head he didn’t think before calling out.

“Nami sweet, could you come down here?”

The footsteps approached, and Nami hopped down to stand a few feet away. “What’s up, Sanji?”

He stepped to the side, and gestured at the space between the crates. Nami approached, her face twisting with a confused frown, but when she drew near enough to see into the shadowed space where the child hid, she gasped. Sanji could guess from the look on her face she was wondering the same thing as him. Was this kid even real? They were so dark, from their bare toes to the tips of their wild hair, that at first glance he had thought there were only a pair of bright brown eyes floating in the darkness.

“Hey.” Nami crouched, and Sanji stepped back to let her handle the situation. Children were outside his area of expertise, but Nami was a woman, and wonderful at everything she did besides.

“Come on out. We’re not gonna hurt you.” she smiled, and Sanji grinned too, aiming for friendly and reassuring. The child, young enough to be androgynous and dressed in clothes which were more dirt coloured than anything else, stood and slowly left their hiding spot. One arm they kept clutched to their chest, protecting what looked like an old shirt bundled up into an oblong shape. Probably all their worldly possessions.

“What’s your name?” Nami asked, still keeping her voice soft and deliberately sweeter than usual.

The child opened their mouth, and coughed a few times before any words came out. It was a dry cough that Sanji knew all too well. Dehydration had nearly killed him more than once while he and Zeff were stranded on that rock.

“Kyla.” they answered meekly. “I’m sorry I stowed away on your ship.” they blurted a moment later, bringing their other arm up to clutch at the bundled shirt.

“You’re the one who’s been stealing from the pantry.” Sanji guessed, and flinched a little inside as the kid turned those wide eyes on him. They, probably a she if they were named Kyla, looked awful. Filthy, and thin in a way that human children weren’t meant to be. It made him feel almost guilty about being mad she stole food, even if he hadn’t been mad at her directly.

“Yes. Sorry.” she seemed to shrink in on herself, clutching to the bundled shirt as Nami cast him a quick glare.

“It’s alright, Kyla.” Nami smiled. “Just stay here, okay? I need to talk to Sanji for a second.” she grabbed his jacket sleeve, and the cook didn’t protest as he was dragged a few crates down.

“She needs food.” he said quietly, before Nami could start on whatever no doubt incredibly logical argument she’d planned.

“We need to tell Luffy first.” the navigator hissed, glaring at him. “You can’t just decide to keep a stowaway before the captain knows about her.”

Sanji opened his mouth to argue, to remind her that his job was first and foremost the nourishment of everyone onboard the Sunny, but before the first word left his mouth there was a noise from off to the side where Kyla still stood. The two pirates looked over, and saw the girl looking down at the bundle in her arms and shushing it. One of the wide sleeves had been flipped back, revealing a roundish patch of pink.

Nami gasped quietly, and Sanji turned to meet her suddenly steely gaze. “We’re keeping them.” she said firmly.

“I’ll go whip something up.” Sanji said quickly. “Bring them to the galley.”

Nami nodded, and he turned on his heel to leave. He had heard Nojiko tell the story of how they were found, and he didn’t need to see Nami’s face as she told Kyla they were safe now to know that the navigator had just vividly remembered that same tale.

\---

“So.” Nami sat across from the little girl, covered in dirt from head to toe. Her hair reminded the redhead of Brook’s, with how it stuck out in all directions from her head. “I take it that baby’s not related to you?” the navigator nodded at the infant, pale under its own layer of grime, which their slightly-less-little stowaway was feeding bits of some sort of puree to. Neither of them had asked Sanji for the specifics when he set it and a sandwich in front of the two children, and a mug of tea in front of Nami with his usual idiotic grin.

“No.” Kyla answered quietly, running her fingers over the dark pink fuzz of hair which capped the infant’s head. “I found him in a trash can a few days ago.”

“How many?” Nami frowned, asking more for Sanji’s benefit than her own. He’d want to know how long the baby hadn’t been eating properly.

Kyla shrugged. “Dunno. Numbers are weird.”

Nami pressed her lips into a flat line. No matter what Luffy said, Kyla was going to stay with them until she could find a place for the girl to call home. Preferably with someone to teach her math, and- “Can you read or write?” she asked.

Kyla shook her head, then looked up with a small, proud smile. “But I can copy.” Sanji’s knife hit the cutting board just slightly harder than it had been doing. Nami didn’t ask what was for lunch, just continued watching Kyla spoon food into the baby’s mouth and hoping against everything that she didn’t get attached to the kid. It wasn’t like they could raise two children on a pirate ship, especially not when the captain and doctor were so immature already. Hell, Chopper might actually still be a child. She couldn’t recall if the little reindeer had ever actually mentioned his age. Luffy and Usopp were the youngest she knew of, still teenagers, but Chopper might actually still be a child and wouldn’t that be amusing.

She smiled, but it vanished as an unmistakable voice called from just outside the door.

“Sanjiii!” Luffy whined, stretching the cook’s name into more syllables than it deserved. “Is lunch ready yet? I’m hungry!” the door flew open, and Kyla dropped the baby’s spoon in the near-empty bowl. Clutching the infant to her chest seemed almost instinctive, Nami noticed absently as she watched Luffy come to a halt just a few steps inside the door. It swung shut with a bang almost as loud as the one it had made hitting the wall when it was thrown open, and the captain’s face went from mildly upset to shocked to curious in the span of a few rapid heartbeats.

“Who’re they?” he asked, pointing at the kids and looking from Nami to Sanji expectantly.

“That’s Kyla and her brother.” Sanji answered smoothly, not looking away from whatever he was doing.

“Why isn’t lunch ready yet? Did they eat it?”

Nami nearly groaned. Of course their captain would focus on food rather than how two obviously not blood-related siblings had come to be on his ship.

“No, I’m still making your lunch. Now shoo,” Sanji shifted slightly and stuck one leg out to block Luffy from approaching the pantry “and no snacks, lunch will be ready in under an hour.”

“But I’m hungry _now_!” the teen insisted, and Nami was almost surprised he didn’t stamp his foot. Really, for someone with such a high bounty he could be downright childish at times. Seeing that her captain wasn’t going to move, the navigator sighed and stood from the table.

“Out.” Nami said firmly, grabbing his collar and dragging him towards the door. “When lunch is done, you’ll know.”

The door didn’t slam shut as loudly this time, and Nami considered locking it against the rest of her nakama but quickly decided against it. Already being seated when Sanji called lunch was never a bad thing, what with how quickly and indiscriminately Luffy inhaled food. Sighing, Nami leaned against the door and gave Kyla an apologetic grin. “Sorry about that.” she smiled, careful to keep it soft and warm. The poor girl already looked like a deer in the headlights, she didn’t need any more scaring. “The captain’s pretty excitable when it comes to food.” she pushed off from the door and went to sit across from Kyla again, picking up her mug of tea.

“It’s okay.” Kyla set down the spoon and shifted the baby to rest over her shoulder, bouncing it and patting it ever so gently on the back. “I’ve fought guys twice as loud as him. And twice as big, too.” she smiled, the same small grin as when she’d assured them she could copy. It was a vicious thing, tense and prideful, a promise that she had won the fights she spoke of and could do so again.

“Kyla, why did you get on this ship?” Nami asked after a moment, looking down at her drink.

“It was the only one leaving.” the girl shrugged, picking up the sandwich with one hand and taking a huge bite. Her eyes opened wide, and she swallowed quickly. “That’s tasty!” she grinned, huge and innocent.

Sanji laughed and turned from the counter with perhaps the most genuine smile Nami had ever seen on his face. “I’m glad you think so. Now eat up, you’re a growing girl.” he turned back to the counter, and Nami shook her head a little at the mental image of Sanji carrying Kyla on one hip and holding the baby in his other arm. He’d rather die than act so motherly towards anyone, especially stowaways who stole food.

Kyla suddenly burped, and Nami hid her smile behind a sip of tea. “So.” she set her mug down, and locked eyes with the filthy child. “Why were you leaving the island?”

“They didn’t like me.” Kyla shrugged, shifting the baby to her other shoulder and continuing to pat it on the back. “I figured the people on Soreth would be more willing to take us in, since I haven’t been living off their scraps for the past few years.”

Nami stiffened at that, and for just a second Sanji froze at the counter, the galley going dead silent save the baby’s cooing and something on the stove sizzling.

“How long?” the cook asked, breaking the silence as he moved to make sure lunch wasn’t going to burn.

“Dunno.” Kyla shrugged again. “Since the winter before the one before last, however long that is.”

“Can you not count?” Nami frowned. It was one thing to have trouble with numbers, but to not know them at all?

“Nope.” Kyla shook her head. “My big bro was gonna teach me, but then I got lost and wound up on Nareta.”

Nami sighed as Sanji began plating everything he’d made. “Well, with the way the weather’s looking it’s going to take a little bit more than a week to reach the next island, and that’s assuming we don’t need to detour around anything. We’ll figure something out.”

“Lunch is almost ready.” Sanji said quietly, getting down a stack of plates and glasses. “Kyla, could you go wait in the pantry? Nami and I need to discuss how we’re telling the captain about you two.”

“But I thought that guy with the funny hat was your captain.” Kyla frowned, shifting the baby to hold against her chest. “He already saw me.”

“Luffy isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.” Nami smiled wryly, getting up to take the dishes and set them out around the table. This was a horrible idea, really, but damn if she couldn’t think of any other course of action which didn’t make her feel completely awful. “The sink’s over there, just leave your plate on the counter. One of us will call for you when it’s time for you to come out.”

Kyla stood obediently, and set the dirty dishes next to the sink before heading into the pantry and shutting the door behind herself. Nami and Sanji shared a look of surprise. After so long travelling with their stubborn nakama, having somebody follow directions on the first request was almost a shock. Sanji picked up some of the plates of food from the counter, and brought them over to set along the middle of the table.

“We need to tell Luffy they were stowaways.” Nami said quietly, crossing the room to get silverware.

“I know,” Sanji sighed, arranging things so that the meat was close enough to Luffy’s usual spot that he wouldn’t have to stretch across the table to get seconds and thirds and inevitable fourths. “But maybe not right away? After all, he can get pretty enthusiastic about that kind of thing, and I’m not sure how well Kyla is going to handle his, ah, Luffy-ness.”

Nami grinned, and Sanji resisted the urge to swoon at her magnificence upon remembering what had happened the last time he did that in such a confined space. Ah, his lovely beauties were such spirited young women. “So, how should we break the news to them that we have two more people on board than we thought we did?”

Sanji thought about that morning, when Usopp had tested his newest Tabasco Star at breakfast and completely ruined the waffles the cook had spent so much time on. Completely at odds with the memory, he grinned. “I think I have an idea.”

\---

As soon as they finished eating lunch, Nami stood up, and Sanji moved to stand next to her. “Everyone,” Sanji glanced at his crewmates, and took a deep breath. “Nami and I have an announcement to make.”

Usopp half choked on his glass of water. “Nami, are you pregnant?” he blurted, eyes wide.

The fist which knocked the sniper’s head back and would likely leave him with a black eye was swift, and entirely justified. “No I’m not!” Nami yelled, leaning over the table and looking about ready to bite Usopp’s head off.

Sanji chuckled, and drew his mouth into the most menacing smirk he could muster. “Scarier.” he grinned for a moment, until Nami whirled around and punched him just above one ear. Okay, he’d deserved that.

“Quit being so cryptic about it.” she said firmly, but he could see the small smile tugging at the edge of her scowl. This had been a great idea.

“Of course, Nami.” he grinned. When he turned to address the rest of his crewmates, however, he made his face as grim as he could manage. “We found the sea spirit, and trapped it in the pantry.” he gestured at the door.

Usopp screamed, and Nami snorted as the long-nosed sniper began to panic.

“I take it by sea spirit, you mean the one who has been crying?” Robin asked with a knowing smile.

“Yes.” Nami nodded, looking over her shoulder at the pantry just as a startled screech came from behind the door. It flew open, hitting the wall with a bang, and Kyla burst out of the storage room with a familiar arm sprouting from her shoulder, staggering out past the counter almost at a run. Well, there went that plan to scare the crap out of Usopp, although it had started out rather well. The limb vanished in a burst of flower petals, and Luffy’s face went from excited to mildly disappointed.

“That’s not a sea spirit.” the captain pouted, slouching in his seat. “I wanted to fight another sea spirit.”

“This is Kyla.” Nami said with a smile, beckoning the girl over to stand next to her. “And her baby brother. They’re going to be travelling with us to the next island.”

“Hi.” the girl in question smiled tentatively, shifting her brother to her right arm so she could wave with the left.

“Wait a minute,” Franky frowned. “When did you get on the ship?”

Kyla ducked her head and pulled her brother close to her chest, her hair seeming to finally remember gravity as a chunk of it flopped down over her bangs to almost fully hide her face.

“She snuck onboard at Nareta.” Sanji answered, glancing down to see Kyla fussing over the baby.

“I’ve never seen such a small stowaway.” Brook mused, tilting his head. Kyla looked up from her brother, and her eyes went wide. The room was dead silent for the space of maybe two heartbeats, and then Kyla let out the most ear piercing _shriek_ and bolted back around the counter, all the way into the pantry. After another few seconds of confusion, Robin chuckled.

“The little one seems to be afraid of you, Brook.” the archeologist smiled wryly.

The skeleton frowned, and a moment later Luffy’s smile vanished as well. “If she’s a stowaway...”

All eyes turned to their captain, who was looking unusually serious.

“We’ll have to throw her overboard.” Luffy stated.

This announcement was followed by a terrified squeak from the pantry, and Nami gaped at Luffy. “Why? They’re just kids.”

“Well, they’re stowaways.” Luffy said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “And if you stow away on a pirate ship, you get thrown overboard, even if you’re a little kid.”

“You know what else pirates do?” Sanji asked rhetorically, pulling out a cigarette. “Mutiny.” he held Luffy’s gaze as the captain’s neutral expression slowly turned into a frown.

“Are you trying to threaten me, Sanji?”

“No.” the chef answered honestly. “I’m just saying that if you throw those children overboard, I’ll punt your rubber ass after them and put Usopp in charge.”

The sniper paled. “Why me?”

“You think I want to be in charge of this ship?” Sanji raised his visible eyebrow. “You already call yourself Captain Usopp, and you’ve got more sense than moss brains. That reason enough?”

“Usooopp.” Luffy dragged the sniper’s name into an extra few syllables. “You wouldn’t let Sanji make you captain, would you?”

The sniper in question paused for a moment, as if weighing the options, then shook his head. “I’m staying out of this.”

Kyla, her head poking out from behind the counter, giggled. Nami rolled her eyes, and Chopper leaned slightly away from the sniper sitting next to him. A moment later Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp were sporting identical bruises on the backs of their heads, courtesy of the ClimaTact, and their attention was on Nami. “If you want them off the ship that badly, it’s not too late to turn around and drop them back on Nareta.” the navigator frowned sternly at her crewmates.

“Ow.” Luffy pouted, rubbing the quickly forming lump. “Okay, she can stay with us until the next island.” a look of realization briefly flitted across his face, and he turned to Sanji. “She’s not gonna get any of my meat, is she?”

Franky snorted, and Sanji smiled as he lit a smoke. “No, Luffy. Kyla won’t be getting your food.”

“Okay.” the captain smiled and stood, walking over to the child who was now standing next to the end of the counter instead of behind it. He crouched down in front of her, balled one hand into a loose fist, and raised it over Kyla’s head. The girl flinched, and Luffy brought it down gently on the top of her mess of hair. “Next time you’re getting on a ship, ask first, alright?”

Kyla nodded nervously, and Luffy stood with his usual carefree grin firmly in place. “Cool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fight that Kyla mentions briefly was one incident when she was about five years old, and it mostly consisted of her running away until the guy chasing her ran into a wall and knocked himself out. She counts it as a win because she survived. Also, you get three guesses who taught Luffy that bit about treatment of stowaways on a pirate ship, and the first two don’t count.


	3. Clean

Kyla stood by the pantry door even after the rest of the crew had left the kitchen and gone back to their own duties and hobbies and various ways of passing the time. Chopper had taken the baby to give it a bath and a medical examination, and without anything to hold she was fiddling with something in her pocket. It was supposedly Zoro’s turn to help do the dishes, but much to Sanji’s consternation the marimo had cleared out before everyone else finished eating and was more likely than not up in the crow’s nest training. Bastard.

“If you want something to do, you could help dry the dishes.” the blond offered after a minute, shooting for casual.

“Okay.” Kyla said far too quickly, casting her eyes around for a moment before giving him a look which could only be described as ‘confused puppy’ eyes. “I’m too short.”

Huh, he hadn’t thought of that. She was pretty small, much too short to work at counter level unless she had something to stand on. When it was Chopper’s turn the doctor just used his Heavy Point, but Kyla couldn’t transform. “Come on, I think there’s a crate in the pantry that’s about the right size.” he set down the dish he was wiping and gestured for Kyla to follow him. She trailed after him almost silently, and Sanji quickly found the box he’d been thinking of. Until last night it had held some mushrooms local to Nareta, massive things which cooked down to the size of regular old white mushrooms, and now that it was empty it would do nicely as a step stool for the little stowaway fidgeting behind him.

“Here.” he held it so Kyla could see, and blinked as she took it from his hand. It was almost half as tall as she was, and a bit wider than that in both directions. She visibly strained to hold it, and Sanji frowned. “You sure you don’t want me to carry that? It’s almost as big as you are.”

“I got it.” the dark little girl grunted, shuffling her grip until it somehow wound up on her head. “See?” she grinned almost defiantly, and turned back to the door. Sanji kept behind her until they were back at the sink, and Kyla had set the box down not quite gently. Once Sanji demonstrated how to dry a dish without breaking it, she nodded and clambered up onto the box. It put her at almost the same height as him, and Sanji was pleased to find out she was at least competent with a rag. The dishes migrated from sitting in soapy water to stacked clean on the counter, and perhaps their progress was slower than usual but each plate and bowl and cup was impeccably dried. If Nami said Kyla had to earn her way, Sanji would have to suggest she take over dish duties for the duration of her stay with them.

They worked together in near silence, and Kyla was working on one of the last few plates when the door opened. Sanji glanced over his shoulder, and scowled. Zoro was probably looking for alcohol. Why else would he risk entering the kitchen after skipping out on dish duty?

“Heard we picked up a couple of stowaways.”

Sanji rolled his eyes as Kyla dutifully finished drying the dish in her hands and fished out the next one, leaving three sitting in the cool water. “Yes, Zoro.” he said icily. “And as you can see, this one isn’t a lazy good-for-nothing. She’s done the dishes you were supposed t-”

Sanji stopped speaking at the sound of a shattering plate, and turned to look at Kyla. She was practically vibrating, damp hands clasped over her mouth and dark brown eyes wide as saucers

Zoro raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t look like much.”

“ _You’re Roronoa Zoro _!” Kyla squealed, louder than any noise Sanji had heard from her so far save the screech she’d produced upon meeting Brook. The swordsman blinked, and Sanji frowned. Sure, people knew their names after the incidents at Enies Lobby and Dressrosa, and Luffy was downright infamous, but this sort of reaction was a first. Kyla was actively bouncing now, tiny hands clenched into fists and shaking near her face in evident excitement. “You’re like, the best swordsman ever!” she continued slightly less shrilly, brown eyes shining almost as brightly as Nami’s beautiful blue ones did when the topic of money was brought up.__

That got a definite reaction. For the first time Sanji could remember, Zoro blushed. Not the angry red he got sometimes when they were goading each other on and Sanji struck a nerve, or the flush of alcohol, but an honest to god embarrassed blush. 

“Not quite.” he said, looking slightly to the side of the skinny ball of excitement he was addressing. “That’s still Mihawk, for now.”

“So?” Kyla frowned briefly, but it didn’t hold out long against her smile. “Mihawk is lame, he doesn’t even have a bounty. You’re way cooler, so you’re better.” she said it so matter-of-fact-ly, even Sanji was taken aback for a moment. Zoro went redder than Sanji had thought was possible, and the cook sniggered.

“What happened, marimo?” he teased. “Forget how to take a compliment?”

Kyla stopped bouncing, and her right hand went into her pocket, probably gripping whatever she’d been fiddling with earlier. Her face abruptly went dark, and she stooped to pick up her dropped dishrag before turning and grabbing another plate. The kitchen was silent for a moment, save the sound of Kyla frantically drying, and then Zoro turned and left. Probably back to training, or to take a nap, but either way Sanji chuckled. It wasn’t every day he got to see his crewmate so thoroughly flustered.

“So.” he smiled, picking up the dried glasses and starting to put them away. “Zoro is cool?” he raised his visible eyebrow, and Kyla’s face went even darker. He hadn’t thought it’d be possible at this point, but apparently it was.

“Yeah.” Kyla said, her voice very small and- embarrassed? “The coolest.”

“News to me.” the blonde shrugged. “Though I suppose if you only know what you read in the papers, he seems a good deal more impressive than he really is.”

“No.” Kyla shook her head stubbornly. “He’s way cooler than Mr. Yuan says he is. Cooler than his posters, too.”

Sanji shook his head as she picked up the second last plate, and moved on to stacking the bowls and serving plates neatly in the cupboards. “Just wait ‘til you get to know him. He’s a complete pain in the a-” he paused, and shook his head again. “A complete pain to deal with.”

Kyla started on the last dish. She was going faster than she had been before, almost at the speed Brook went. “Nope.” she shook her head, and the chunk of hair which had flopped down over her uneven bangs earlier now fell in her face again. “He’s always gonna be the coolest, even if you think he’s a big dummy.” she set the last plate on the pile, and Sanji started putting them away. If she wanted to put the marimo on a pedestal, he wouldn’t stop her. He just hoped she could handle being disappointed.

\---

Kyla’s heart was still pounding in her ears when an unfamiliar voice said her name, and she dried her hands on her shirt as she turned to see who was calling her. It was one of the weird looking ones, the raccoon dog with the silly antler-hat. It was shorter than her even when she wasn’t standing on a tall box, but Nami had assured her it was okay to let it take her brother earlier. It wasn’t holding her brother now, and her heart kept racing even as her blush faded.

“Where’s the baby?”

“It’s alright, he’s asleep in the infirmary.” the raccoon dog assured her, and how odd that thought was. It had given a name earlier, but she’d been more focused on the fact that it was supposedly a reindeer that ate a Devil Fruit than listening to its introduction. “Did you know he’s a silvertip shark fishman?”

“Kinda?” Kyla frowned. “Is that important?”

“Very.” Kyla turned her head to look at Sanji, who had finished putting away the dishes and was pulling out another cigarette. “Fishmen can eat different things than humans, so knowing that will help me make sure he’s fed properly.”

Kyla was opening her mouth to thank the cook, who was really much nicer than any pirate she’d met before, when the raccoon dog made a strange sound.

“Sanji!” it yelled, and Kyla nearly giggled at the look on the blond’s face. “You shouldn’t smoke around children, it’s bad for them.”

The cook looked as perplexed as Kyla felt, and the tiny raccoon dog sighed heavily. “Once I’m done with Kyla’s examination, I’ve got some things to show you.” it held out a- hand? hoof? paw? Kyla settled on hand, and hopped down off her box to take it, leaving the dish rag on the counter. The strange thing which called itself a doctor lead her out onto the deck, and then into a round room where Nami was doing something with a pen and a desk, and finally up a ladder and through another door into a room like nothing she’d ever seen before.

“Is this where you’re gonna do the examinathingy?” she asked, trying to take in her new surroundings.

“No.” it shook its head. “First, you need to take a bath.” it showed her where the shampoo was, next to a bathtub already full of warm water, and Kyla nodded when it asked if she could wash herself. She knew how to, she just didn’t get the chance very often. The shampoo stuff was nothing like the soap she’d used back on Nareta, and the water was much warmer than the river, but after a few minutes she figured she’d gotten at least most of the suds out of her hair and climbed out. Her clothes stuck to her a little bit, but the papers in her pocket were still dry so that was okay.

The little reindeer dog was waiting for her on the other side of the door, and she followed it back down the ladder and into a smaller room with a bed and a desk and some other stuff. She didn’t notice most of it, just made a beeline to the little un-bundled figure laid in the middle of the bed. Her brother was clean, and sleeping peacefully. The raccoon dog measured her height and weight at one hundred and seven centimetres and thirteen and a half kilos, words which she knew were likely numbers but which meant nothing to her. He did other things too, like shine a light in her face and whack her leg with a bouncy hammer and make her open her mouth really wide. After a while of this he decided she was perfectly fine, and that nothing was actually wrong with her besides being short and skinny.

\---

Nami sighed and shook her head. This was stupid, and not something she should be worrying about when her latest map was still only half transferred from the drawings she’d made on the island. She should be in the library, not in the bedroom she shared with Robin. Yet here she was, looking through her older shirts for one Kyla could wear, even momentarily. The girl had come back from her bath with her hair still dripping, wearing the same filthy clothes she’d been wearing when they found her. Those clothes needed to be washed, if nothing else, and Nami knew she wouldn’t work half as well as she wanted to until she could wholly focus on what she was doing.

The first one she found without a deep neckline was bright yellow with a line of orange flowers stretching from the right shoulder to the left hip, and she smiled. Grabbing a headband she’d bought somewhere and worn maybe once, Nami headed out onto the deck and over to the infirmary. Kyla looked up from her baby brother when the navigator entered through the kitchen door, and Chopper wisely said nothing when he noticed the items she was carrying.

“Your things need to be washed.” the redhead said bluntly, setting down the shirt and headband on the bed. “You can wear that until they’re clean.”

“O-kay?” Kyla frowned. “I took a bath, though. I even washed my hair.”

“Well, your clothes didn’t get washed.” Nami answered smoothly. “And you’re a girl, so you should be wearing clean clothes every day, if you can. Only stinky boys wear the same thing for weeks on end when they have a perfectly good change of clothes.” she cast a half glare a Chopper, who made an indignant face and gestured to his horns.

“Okay.” Kyla nodded this time, and pulled off her shirt without hesitation. Nami smiled as the small child donned her old shirt. It was huge on her, hanging all the way down to her shins and the sleeves coming very nearly down to her elbows. The pants came off soon after, and Kyla handed both articles of clothing to Nami.

“Feel free to use that headband, by the way.” Nami nodded to the curved piece of brightly coloured plastic still sitting on the bed. “It can’t be comfortable, having your bangs in your eyes like that.”

Kyla picked up the headband, and Nami did a double take when the child put it on. Her eyebrows were both curled into a very familiar pair of spirals, only backwards. Kyla’s left eyebrow curled outward towards her ear, and her right eyebrow curled inward towards her nose. The dark girl went even darker with a blush, highlighting the mess of freckles which covered her face, and Nami realised she was staring.

“You can have it back.” Kyla reached up to remove the headband, and Nami smiled quickly.

“No, no.” she shook her head. “You look good with your hair back. Chopper, doesn’t she look adorable?” she shot the reindeer doctor a look, and he nodded vigorously.

“Very cute.” he gave her a thumbs up, or at least tried to approximate one with his hooves, and Nami nodded confidently.

“You should show Sanji.” the navigator said as Kyla began to mirror her smile. “I think he’s out on the deck.” that was a blatant lie, he was actually in the laundry room. Robin, Usopp, and Luffy however, were on the deck, and somehow the idea of Sanji being the last to know their stowaway had nearly the same eyebrows as him was incredibly amusing.

“Really?” Kyla’s face lit up.

“Absolutely.” Nami nodded once. “He’ll be thrilled, I promise.”

“Okay.” Kyla grinned and scooped the baby- huh, fishman apparently- up into her arms. “Thanks for the shirt, Miss Nami.” and just like that, she was running out onto the deck.

Chopper swiveled his chair to give Nami a look, and the navigator shrugged. “She’s cute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sanji says he's never seen anybody react to them in a fannish way because he was already off Dressrosa when Bartolomeo met Luffy. So even if he's heard of the incident, he's never seen it with his own two eyes. The height and weight given are underweight and undersized for a six year old, so that’s the age Chopper thinks she is since she doesn’t actually know herself. The shirt Nami gives Kyla is the one she wore on Sabaody. The laundry room Nami refers to does not actually exist on the official Sunny blueprints, so for the sake of reference, it’s near the engine room. Also, since I couldn’t find anywhere to mention it, Nami makes Zoro pay for that broken plate. She would charge Kyla, but Kyla has like fifty beri to her name and won’t be onboard long enough to be extorted the way Zoro is.


	4. Chores

Of all the chores on the ship, Sanji hated laundry duty the most. Partially because it entailed, well, doing laundry, but mostly because it wasn’t solely his own laundry. He was well used to washing his own clothing, and of course he would never complain about helping out Nami and Robin, but handling Franky’s week-old speedo was something he’d rather avoid. Today, as he sorted the garments into lights darks and colours for the boys and girls- nearly equal piles, despite the fact that the girls were heavily outnumbered- Nami stuck her head in and tossed a pair of items into the girls hamper.

“Excellent aim, Nami.” he smiled, flicking one of Usopp’s shirts into the darks pile. The stain on it was probably tabasco sauce, but might’ve been paint. At this point he’d stopped guessing.

“Make sure that gets washed.” she smiled sweetly, and ducked back out as Sanji picked up the startlingly small shirt and frayed shorts. They were too large to be Chopper’s, which meant they must belong to Kyla. His chest tightened at the realization. They were filthier than he’d first thought, and more ragged too. How long had she been wearing them? He shook his head, and placed both articles of clothing in the girls colours pile. That would be the first load he ran.

There was an odd noise as the pants flopped down, like paper crinkling. It must be what Kyla had been fiddling with earlier, and if it was paper it probably shouldn’t go into the wash. Sanji stooped and picked up the garment, and checked the pockets. There was nothing in the front two, which were surprisingly shallow, and in the back right he found only a few ten beri coins. The left side pocket held a bit of colourful warped plastic with one surprisingly sharp jagged edge, which he set down on top of the dryer next to the coins, and in the right side pocket he found the source of the paper sound. It was neatly folded, the edges soft with time and creases pale from being folded and unfolded repeatedly, and he could see that a beri sign was printed on the other side of the quarter he was looking at.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he unfolded the sheets of paper. His eyes widened, and he quickly stifled a laugh. That explained a few things. He folded the papers back up, taking care to keep their edges and creases lined up, and tucked them in his own pants pocket. He sorted the rest of the dirty clothes quickly, and then loaded the girls’ lights and colours into the washer and started it. It’d be another half hour before he needed to come back and flip the laundry around, which was plenty of time to hear whatever Chopper had needed to say to him and go tease Zoro about what he’d found.

\---

It had been four days since Kyla was discovered, and life on the Sunny was more or less back to normal, or at least as close as you could get to normal on a pirate ship. Kyla had integrated into their lives almost seamlessly, and Zoro could almost forget she was there sometimes. Unfortunately, these times only seemed to coincide with his meditation. She always seemed to be there, hovering just behind a door or around one of the masts. She was following him, and he had no clue why. It wasn’t like she could do anything to him. Even if she did have a weapon hidden somewhere under her raggedy clothes, they were way too far from Nareta for her to get back there on her own. Especially with that baby fishman she called her brother.

She had seemed so enamoured with him that first day in the kitchen, but now he was doubting the motive behind her words. Sanji had gleefully showed him the three bounty posters which had supposedly been in the girl’s pants pocket and teased him about having a ‘fangirl’, but she didn't act anything like Bartolomeo, and anyways the only people who carried around multiple bounty posters were bounty hunters. He would know. But if she was a bounty hunter, why sneak aboard the ship and hide? Unless she really was trying to get from Nareta to Soreth, and was planning to turn him in there. That seemed like a really poorly thought out plan, but then again the kid was only six.

“Uh oh.” Zoro opened his eye slightly and looked up to see Usopp frowning, fishing rod in hand. “What’s with the scary face?”

Zoro closed his eye again. “Thinking.”

“Really.” Usopp’s smile was as audible as his disbelief. “What about?”

“The stowaway.” he answered simply.

“Aw, come on.” the sniper cajoled, making himself comfortable on the railing. “She hasn’t done anything wrong, has she?”

Zoro hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not he should voice his suspicions. “She might be a bounty hunter.” he said after a minute, and from the sound of it Usopp stabbed himself in the finger with the fish hook.

“Why would you think that?” the sniper asked after he was done swearing and probably shaking his hand. Wimp.

“She’s following me around, and she’s got all my bounty posters.” Zoro half opened his eye, and quickly located the small form of their stowaway. “She’s over there right now.” she appeared to be listening to Luffy, her brother in her lap, but as Zoro watched she glanced over her shoulder to look at him. Their eyes locked, and the kid’s face went dark with blush as she whipped around to face Luffy again. Her right hand plunged into the pocket which sat on the side of her leg, where his bounty posters were, and Zoro frowned.

“Oh, that?” Usopp chuckled, and Zoro tilted his head back to see the sniper grinning down at him like he knew something the swordsman didn’t. It was an unsettling look on Usopp’s face, but thankfully it faded to generic smugness as he continued speaking. “She’s just scared to talk to you.”

Zoro raised an eyebrow skeptically. “She’s fine talking to Brook, and didn’t he send her screaming when she first saw him move?”

“Well, yeah. She gets along with Brook but she’s not one of his fans.” Usopp turned back to watching his line. “Kyla thinks of you as a celebrity, though I can’t imagine why.”

Zoro rolled his eye. “If she’s so scared of me, why does she keep following me everywhere?”

Usopp laughed at that. “She wants to ask you to teach her how to swordfight.”

“Me.” Zoro said flatly. The stowaway who either adored him or wanted him dead- it was still debatable at this point- and looked entirely too much like _her_ for somebody who looked nothing like her at all, wanted him to teach her how to use a sword.

Usopp turned to look at Zoro again, still half smiling. “If you want her to stop, you could probably just tell her she can’t be a s-”

The sniper stopped speaking abruptly as Wado’s blade halted just a hair away from slicing off his nose, and his face paled as Zoro fixed him with a menacing glare. The swordsman hadn’t moved an inch, other than his sword arm, but any idiot could see that he was pissed.

“Or not.” Usopp said quickly, whipping around to sit upright and face out to sea, the fishing rod in his hands trembling as he shivered.

“I could probably show her the basics if she had a practice sword to work with.” Zoro said offhandedly, getting to his feet and stretching.

“I can make one.” Usopp said hurriedly, still shaking slightly.

“Cool.” Zoro smiled wickedly, and left his friend sitting on the railing.

\---

Kyla laid her brother in carefully his crib, and collapsed with a groan onto the infirmary bed. She had helped with the dishes for all the meals today, as she had every day since the cook and navigator pulled her from her hiding place in the bottom of the ship. She’d held the net while Usopp fished, and landed things so big they nearly dragged her overboard or into the aquarium. Franky had even let her help with untangling and re-coiling lengths of rope and wire and stuff. Her hands hurt, her shoulders ached, and she had skinned her knee without noticing somehow, but now it was starting to sting like heck.

The chair squeaked slightly, and Kyla had her knife out of her pocket in a flash. Okay, it wasn’t so much a knife as a bit of half melted plastic she’d found and scraped into semi-sharpness on the brick walls of Nareta's alleys, but it worked well enough to help her drive off older thugs. She scrambled to her feet, and lifted the knife into a good stabbing angle. “I’m armed.” she said firmly, holding her hand as still as she could with her shoulder protesting.

“I won’t hurt you, little one.”

Kyla didn’t lower her knife as she squinted into the dark. Robin got up, and Kyla followed the vague shape of her outline as the raven haired woman walked over to the door that connected to the kitchen. The lights suddenly came on, and Kyla blinked at the brightness for a moment, bringing up her hands to rub her eyes before remembering she was still holding her knife and trying to look intimidating, or at least like she’d put up a fight.

Robin smiled in a way which was probably meant to be soothing, and walked over to sit on the foot of the bed. “You’re quite the hard worker.”

Kyla didn’t lower her knife, though her shoulder was screaming. “Course I am.” she lifted her chin and held herself as tall as she could, gaze flicking over to her baby bro in his crib. He was still asleep, thank god, but if the pirate threatened him Kyla would stab her without a second thought.

“Of course.” Robin smiled wryly. “You have to be, to survive without a family at your age.”

Kyla frowned, and tightened her grip on the uneven plastic which formed her knife’s handle. Even if she had to cooperate with them to get where she was going, she couldn’t trust these pirates. Sanji and Nami were nice, and Zoro was super cool of course, but at the end of the day they were just common criminals who couldn’t be trusted.

“I know you don’t want pity, or charity, but just know that you don’t have to earn your keep on this ship.” Robin reached over to the crib, and Kyla gripped her blade so hard the edges bit into her palm and fingers. The freckled girl didn’t relax as the pyjama-clad pirate began rocking her brother gently, or as she began to speak again. “You can help if you want to, but there’s no need to push yourself so hard.”

“I’m not pushing myself.” Kyla huffed, crossing her arms. “I’m helping out exactly as much as I want to.”

Robin released the crib, and Kyla remembered that she should be keeping her blade pointed at the pirate woman. As she raised her arm, however, a hand pressed against her shoulder and she let out a small noise of pain as she flinched away from the pressure. Dang, that hurt a _lot_. The hand vanished with a smell of flowers, and Robin’s smile went inexplicably sad. “May I see your hands?”

Kyla hesitated a moment, but then placed her empty fist in the pale pirate’s upturned palm. She let Robin uncurl her fingers, and winced as the pirate gently brushed the angry red marks on her palms.

“I remember how badly this hurts. You’re quite strong, little one, but you don’t need to prove your worth to us.” she smiled, warm and reassuring, and Kyla loosened her grip on her knife slightly. “The captain is a good man. He said you will be travelling with us to the next island, and he won’t go back on that word.”

Kyla grinned hesitantly, and Robin stood. “Go to sleep, little one. It’s late.”

Kyla only sat down and released her knife when Robin had left, shutting off the lights on the way and plunging the room back into darkness. She tucked the knife back in its pocket, and laid down on the bed. Soreth still felt so far away, as impossible a destination as it had seemed back on Nareta, but somehow that didn’t seem so scary anymore.

\---

“Hey, kid.”

Kyla looked up from playing with her brother, and quickly looked back down when she realized who was speaking to her. Zoro looked upset, but that seemed to be his resting face so maybe he wasn’t actually angry at her. Maybe he was though, she knew he’d noticed her the past few days and maybe now he was going to tell her to stop it.

Zoro sighed, and sat down next to her. “Usopp told me you want to be a swordsman.”

“Uh-huh.” she nodded, keeping her eyes on the baby fishman who was trying to gnaw her fingers off despite the fact that they probably tasted like dish soap from helping wash up after dinner.

“I can’t say I know the first thing about teaching somebody how to swing a sword, but you can’t even start learning until you have something to practice with.”

Kyla nodded, swallowing hard. Zoro really was nice, despite what Sanji and everyone back on Nareta said. “Okay. I’ll find a dojo on Soreth. I won’t bother you any more.”

“Of course you won’t.”

Kyla caught Zoro’s smile out of the corner of her eye, and then she registered that he was picking something up he had laid down next to him. It was a wooden sword, and her eyes widened as he placed it in her lap.

“Starting tomorrow morning, I’ll show you the basics.”

Kyla’s cheeks hurt from the force of her sudden grin, and she quickly scrambled to her feet, wooden sword in one hand. It was heavier than she’d realized at first, and fell from her grip as she threw herself at Zoro. He grunted as she hit him, and Kyla hugged the green haired man tightly as they tipped over.

“Thank you.” she squeaked, squeezing her arms around his neck. “Thank you thank you thank you.”

Zoro chuckled and sat back up, picking up the wooden sword- _her_ sword- and pressing it into her hands once she released him. “This is yours now. Don’t be careless with it.”

“I won’t be.” Kyla shook her head so hard some of her hair whipped around and smacked her in the face. She spat out the strands which had stuck to her mouth, and realized that she was still smiling like an idiot. “I’ll be super careful, sensei.”

Zoro grinned at that and got to his feet, ruffling her hair. “I’ll wake you up at six.”

Kyla bounced on the balls of her feet as he walked away, and when Sanji came over to send her to bed he found her dancing around her laughing brother and swinging the heavy sword in wide, barely controlled arcs. When she laid down in the infirmary bed, her brother in a crib Franky had whipped up, she did so with her sword clutched to her chest.


	5. Routine

Somehow, very quickly, Sanji had come to expect the presence of their little stowaway in the kitchen. If she wasn’t helping Usopp fish or trying to work up the nerve to ask Zoro for lessons- a feat she had apparently accomplished, because why else would she have even _had_ a fake sword to be swinging around last night- she was usually in the kitchen. The baby seemed to be pretty attached to him too, which he found odd, but regardless of why she preferred to spend her time in the galley the fact remained that Kyla had managed to become a regular part of his life. And today, she was absent. The baby was still asleep in its crib, but Kyla was not in the infirmary bed. She was still on the ship, he was certain of that, but if she wasn’t in the kitchen or out on the deck he had no clue where she could be.

If they’d been on any other ship he might’ve worried for her safety, but even the idiot marimo wasn’t cruel enough to hurt such a lovely little girl. He didn’t see Kyla at all that morning, not even when her brother woke up and started crying, and that was usually all it took to bring her running. She had a loving heart, and somehow he knew that she would grow up to be as wonderful as Nami and Robin. He fed the baby between flipping pancakes and preparing enough meat to satisfy Luffy, and tried not to worry until his crewmates began trickling in for coffee and tea before breakfast. Kyla was usually one of the first to arrive, early riser that she was, but today she was absent.

When Kyla did finally arrive, it was only seconds before he called to wake up the few of his crewmates who were still asleep, captain included. Her wooden sword was hung on her back with a rope strung across her chest, and her hair was stuck to her face in multiple places. Before he could ask what she’d been up to, the explanation walked through the door on her heels. Zoro was almost smiling, which was an odd look to see on the marimo’s face, and if Sanji hadn’t been looking at _Zoro_ he would have called the expression fond. Except Zoro didn’t like anything but alcohol, sleep, and his swords, so that was out of the question. Breakfast was a chaotic affair, as every meal with Luffy was, and as they ate Sanji found himself glancing at Kyla, perched on the edge of the bench as if she were about to get up. She cleaned her plate quickly, but rather than coming up for seconds she set the dish down and pulled her brother into her lap.

As he was filling the sink with hot water for washing after the meal, however, he heard the scrape of Kyla dragging the stepstool over. Franky had put it together in seconds once he realized their stowaway couldn’t help do dishes without one, and as Kyla fetched a dish rag Sanji couldn’t help but smile. She still had her toy sword strapped to her back, and though the longer strands of hair were no longer stuck to her face her bangs were still plastered firmly to her forehead, covering her asymmetrically curled eyebrows.

“Swords are heavier than I thought.” she said after a few minutes of drying in silence.

Sanji smiled. “The moss brain start teaching you?”

Kyla nodded. “It’s kinda boring, actually. He kept saying I was holding my sword all wrong, but then he threw a cup at my head and decided I was doing it mostly right?” she shrugged and set aside the dish she’d been drying, picking up another one.

Sanji scowled for a moment, contemplating whether or not it’d be acceptable to go kick Zoro’s ass after the dishes were put away.

“It was fun, though.” Kyla smiled, and Sanji found himself mirroring the expression.

“Be careful you don’t let the marimo turn you into a muscle-head.” he teased gently, rinsing out a mug and scrubbing away the coffee line so it wouldn’t stain. “You’re a little lady.”

Kyla shrugged and made a noncommittal noise. “I’ll be leaving when we get to Soreth anyways.”

Sanji frowned at that, but said nothing. She was just a stowaway, albeit one he would have defied his captain to protect, though that was simply because she was a little girl. She was only with them until they reached the next island, and then she’d be gone again. For some reason, the thought made him uneasy.

\---

Kyla pursed her lips, and glared at the floor in front of her crossed legs. Zoro made it look so easy, like falling asleep between one breath and the next, but she’d been trying to clear her mind for what felt like the past _hour_ and her head was still swarming with thoughts. Counting backwards hadn’t helped, tracing the wood grain of the floor with her eyes hadn’t helped, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine a place to build in her head.

“It’s not working.” she huffed, breaking the silence which had filled the crow’s nest. She’d pretended to meditate for the past few days, but when he got up Zoro always gave her a look like he _knew_ she’d been fidgeting and practicing counting in her head the whole time. He’d taught her how to count to ten during her first lesson, so she could know how many times she swung her sword, but she was pretty sure that deliberately counting the seconds of each breath in and out wasn’t how you were supposed to meditate.

“You sure?” Zoro opened his eye halfway, and Kyla felt a chill run down her spine. Her sensei always felt the most dangerous when he looked half asleep, though she couldn’t put her finger on why.

“Yeah.” she nodded, shifting to a kneeling position and fisting her hands on her knees. “I can’t make my brain turn off.”

The swordsman sighed, and rubbed his forehead with his knuckles. “Gimme a minute.”

Kyla twisted slightly to watch him go to the trap door, and her heart started pounding as it closed over his head. Terrible thoughts immediately began to run through her mind, and she tightened her grip on the hems of her shorts. No, those thoughts were stupid. Zoro was her sensei, he wouldn’t just leave her up here on her own for no reason. Shaking her head, Kyla turned back around and went back to sitting crosslegged. She focused on her breathing, in for ten seconds and one, out for seven. In for ten seconds and one, out for seven. She counted in her head, tried to clear her mind of everything but breathing and counting, but thoughts kept drifting into her head. Was her brother okay, where was Zoro, why had he left, what if she tried to jump down to the deck?

She frowned at that last one. That was a really dumb idea. She’d break both her legs and die, that’s what would happen. Unless maybe she jumped halfway, and then bounced off the ropes and rolled? Great, there went her meditative focus. Kyla shook her head again, strands of hair whipping across her face, and went back to counting breaths. In for ten-and-one, out for seven, repeat.

The trap door opened as she was trying not to think of what would happen if the pirates on the ship turned out to be as evil as their bounty posters suggested, and Kyla jumped from sitting to kneeling in an instant. Zoro had a candle in his hand, and a wide flat metal thing which looked like it was supposed to hold the candle. He sat down across from her, set the metal dish between them, and jammed the candle into a hole in the middle. The lighter he pulled out was unmistakably Sanji’s, though Kyla had never seen it up close before, and she watched with rapt interest as he lit the candle.

“Watch the flame.” he said quietly, sitting back and crossing his legs. “Breathe, and watch the flame. Don’t think about anything else.”

Kyla nodded, and fixed her eyes on the dancing little slip of fire. It was transfixing, and as Kyla breathed she realized she wasn’t having to count her inhales and exhales, they were simply happening. It felt like only minutes later that Zoro shifted, and with a start Kyla realized the candle had somehow burnt almost halfway down. Her sensei leaned forward, and blew the flame out.

“That was good.” he smiled, and Kyla beamed back. “Here,” he lobbed the lighter at her, and she snatched it out of the air with her left hand. “Give that back to love-cook next time you see him.”

“Why don’t you give it back yourself?” Kyla cocked her head sideways.

“Well, he won’t kick you for stealing his lighter, but he hates my guts.”

“Sanji can fight?” Kyla’s nose wrinkled as she frowned. “He looks so weak though.”

Zoro snorted at that. “Trust me, kid. They don’t call him Black Leg for nothing. He earned his bounty, same as the rest of us.”

“People call him Black Leg?” Kyla straightened her head and leaned forward. When Luffy said things like that, it usually led into a story, and even if they were pirates they had some amazing tales to tell.

“Because he kicks just as hard as Red Leg Zeff, but he never gets his shoes bloody, supposedly.” he shrugged.

Kyla pouted for a moment. Apparently, even as cool as he was, Zoro sucked at telling stories.

\---

Days on the Sunny fell into a new routine for Kyla. Where before she had spent nearly every waking moment either with her brother or helping out, now she spent most of her time training with Zoro. It was mostly the same few motions over and over, to make her hands and arms strong enough that she could hold the sword properly and hit things without losing her grip, but when her sensei was asleep he had her lift weights or do pushups or other things. She still spent time with her baby brother, and even when her hands ached she volunteered to help with the dishes.

Sanji made drying the dishes fun. Sometimes when she mentioned Zoro his face went sorta scrunched or twisty, like he wanted to say something but was too nice to open his mouth and do it. He never told her to shut up either, which was a welcome change of pace from the people of Nareta. It was nice, even when the navigator announced that they’d be significantly delayed by detouring around something or other. She hadn’t heard what exactly over the other pirates yelling, but the idea of spending an extra few days on the ship wasn’t a horrible one. Zoro was teaching her how to use a sword, and Sanji was helping her take care of her brother- along with the reindeer man- and it _was_ kinda nice to have an actual bed to sleep in at night, even if it wasn’t really hers. If they weren’t pirates, Kyla might’ve thought about asking to stay on the ship with them forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason Kyla is sitting on the bench to eat rather than at the counter is because she’s too short to easily get up onto that seating. And Zoro only thought she was holding her sword wrong because she's left-handed. Also, I forgot to mention this in chapter three since I couldn’t make it flow right so it never got written, but everyone is delighted by Kyla’s curly eyebrows. She was sure they were making fun of her though, until she found Sanji (fresh out of Chopper’s lecture about secondhand smoke) and he showed her that his are asymmetrical too. He then went and kicked the other boys around for almost making a girl cry.


	6. Pirates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it took me this long to notice that the paragraph spacing on this was fucked up, but now I've gone through and fixed it all. Sorry bout that. Also, my apologies for the lack of update yesterday. I was participating in a Lord of the Rings marathon which ran later than expected.

“Pirates! Everyone, there’s a ship coming right at us! I think they’re going to attack!”

Kyla turned her head to the open window, and as her brain processed the words she swung back around to face Zoro, hands tightening on the hilt of her sword. “Are you gonna fight them?”

“Probably.” he frowned, pulling open the trapdoor and gesturing for Kyla to go first. She hurried down to the deck, Zoro hot on her heels, and her eyes widened at the sight of the approaching ship. It was huge, almost twice the size of the ship they were on, and as her feet hit the grass a cannonball whizzed towards the massive boat. Luffy dropped down, deflating from the balloon he could make his body into, and Kyla’s eyes felt like they were about to pop out of her head. She hadn’t forgotten what the Straw Hats were, per-sé, but now she was being violently reminded that these people who had allowed her to stay in their home- she was six, not stupid, a ship could be as much home as a house- were _pirates_.

“Kyla.” Zoro said firmly, shaking her shoulder a little. She snapped back to the moment, and his face smoothed out slightly. He had probably been trying to get her attention for a while, oops.

“Yeah?” she blinked.

“Get down into the laundry room, and stay there.”

His tone was scary, and a cannonball flew overhead as Nami and Franky yelled instructions, but Kyla set her jaw defiantly and pulled her sword from the rope holder across her back. “No. I’m gonna fight!”

The swordsman looked taken aback for a moment, then his face settled into a scowl. “You have a wooden sword.”

“I can still help!” Kyla huffed, bringing her sword down to point at her sensei. He was being stupid, really stupid, saying she couldn’t defend herself in a fight. There was a flash of light across her vision, and suddenly her sword was halfway across the grassy deck.

“Laundry room.” Zoro half snarled, radiating menace. “Now.”

Kyla went to the laundry room, only peripherally aware of the fact that Brook was following her. Probably to make sure she didn’t turn around and run up onto the deck again. Ten seconds after she shut the door, her heart dropped into her stomach. Her brother was in the kitchen, and she had a good enough map of the ship in her head by now to know that she couldn’t get there without going on deck. Her left hand plunged into her pocket, and fastened tight around the hilt of her small knife. Even if Zoro stopped teaching her, even if she wasn’t allowed to get her sword back, she had to get her brother.

She ran at the door, grabbed the knob, and it wouldn’t turn. She was locked in. Suddenly, Kyla wished she knew how to swear.

\---

Sanji was really done with being attacked by random no-name pirates. It seemed like every crew in the New World wanted to prove themselves by taking out the dumb little kid with a 500 million beri bounty, but none of them ever seemed to consider that it might actually be _difficult_ to take out a kid with a 500 million beri bounty. They always seemed to arrive when he was in the middle of cooking, too. While Luffy’s appetite meant that that covered a much larger time frame than it would on any other ship, it was still annoying to keep the meal from being ruined as he fought.

Most days, he accomplished this by simply defending the kitchen door instead of attempting to take people on directly in his work area, but that wasn’t going to work this time. The sauce he was making needed to be stirred regularly, so he couldn’t leave it alone even for the few minutes it would take to beat up these latest idiots. More importantly, though, there was an infant fussing in its swaddling on one of the chairs, and whenever the baby was left completely alone it started to cry.

After a moment of thought, Sanji decided that his crewmates could probably handle the attackers. If he was lucky, nobody would make it as far as the kitchen, and while Zoro might tease him for missing all the action it was better than possibly alerting enemies to the fact that there was a defenseless child in there with him. As the sounds of fighting started up outside, he ignored them and continued stirring.

Sanji’s plan worked perfectly for about five minutes, after which two loud bangs sounded behind him and he heard the telltale sounds of intruders in his kitchen. With some consideration, he decided that the sauce could handle a few moments off the heat while he took care of the interlopers. He switched off the stove with a click, resisting the urge to light a cigarette as he turned around. Before he could even start to take in the scene, the baby started to cry.

“What the hell is some ugly fishman baby doing here?”

“Hell if I know. Might as well grab it too, though.”

Sanji wasn’t sure if they were ignoring him or if they actually hadn’t noticed that he was there, but upon hearing the other pirates discuss taking away Kyla’s brother Sanji decided that it didn’t matter. In both cases, he retained the element of surprise. The closest man went down with a swift kick to the head, and Sanji let the other goons step back in confusion and fear while he picked up the baby. The fishman immediately stopped crying, meaning he was probably just afraid of the strangers now surrounding them, and Sanji gritted his teeth as he turned to face them.

“I’d appreciate it if you just left now. It would save me a lot of trouble, and you a lot of embarrassment.” The man closest to the door had the gall to laugh, which was to be expected but still not appreciated. Sanji shifted his weight to prepare for a small scuffle, only for the baby to coo in his arms. He froze, trying to figure out if there was anything he could do to fight while holding the fishman. He couldn’t put the kid down without risking one of the pirates trying to grab him, and anyways once picked up it took a few minutes of coddling for the baby to be put down without starting to cry.

The closest man lunged with a sword, and Sanji deflected it with a kick without a second thought. The baby cooed again, and Sanji realized that he was going to need to fight the dozen or so intruders while holding an infant. Lovely.

The kitchen and dining area wasn’t the best place to fight, as the chairs and counters severely cut off the amount of space Sanji had to stretch his legs, but while holding the baby he didn’t really have the flexibility to do more than basic kicks anyways. The bastards he was fighting might go away from this thinking his reputation was undeserved, but the baby’s safety was more important. He needed to stop almost every other moment to check that the infant was all right, but to his consternation the fishman seemed to actually be enjoying himself.

When Sanji had winnowed the attackers down to the three most persistent, they seemed to realize that coming at him one at a time wasn’t working and surrounded the cook. At some invisible signal, they all darted forwards at once, and Sanji muttered a preemptive apology to Chopper before clutching the baby closer to his chest with one hand. The other hand went to the floor to support his weight so he could pull off a spinning kick and take out all three assailants at once, which was a lot harder than usual when he had to place all of his weight on one arm as well as figure out on the spot how to spin without dropping the baby.

The baby who, for some reason, was now laughing. Sanji wasn’t sure he had ever heard the kid laugh before, but if the only way to entertain the little fishman was for the cook to nearly wrench his arm out of his socket attempting to do a spinning kick with only one hand, then he was going to have to continue to do without that wonderful noise. The baby’s giggles finally petered out, but before Sanji could call someone in to clean up the mess the attackers had made with their unconscious bodies he realized that he didn’t know where Kyla was.

The last time he remembered seeing her had been after breakfast, when she helped him wash up, and he was pretty sure that she had mentioned training with Zoro later in the day. If she had been with the marimo when they were attacked, there was a high chance that she had been on deck, in the midst of the fighting. Sanji knew better than to assume that the marimo would let his student get hurt, but in the heat battle it was easy to lose track of a single small person. He was halfway to the door when it slammed open again, but this time instead of enemies it was Kyla.

“Is he okay?” Sanji knew without asking that she was asking about her brother, so he put on his most reassuring face.

“He’s just fine, Kyla. I would never let anything happen to him. Are _you_ okay?”

She nodded, stepping over the bruised and, in some cases, bleeding bodies of the pirates who had attacked them to get close enough to take her brother from the cook. He handed the fishman over without a word, content to watch her face as she reassured herself that the baby was in fact unharmed. With almost anyone else, he would resent the implication that he was incapable of properly protecting an infant, but Kyla was only expressing a reasonable level of concern for the boy she had adopted as part of her family.

“I’m all right.” she scowled slightly. “Zoro made me go down to the laundry room. Brook locked me in until the fighting was over though, or I would’ve come to get him.” she bounced the baby carefully, a smile coming back to her face as the fishman cooed. “I wanted to watch Zoro fight, too. Mr. Jii said he’s a demon in battle.”

Sanji knew he would be kicking himself for it later, but as much as he disliked the marimo he couldn’t let that pass in good conscience. “Zoro was just trying to keep you safe. Any one of us would have done the same thing. Well, maybe not Luffy, but he’s special.” That got a giggle, so he continued. “Zoro didn’t let you watch the fight because he knew you wouldn’t be satisfied with just watching. You’d need to participate, and while those guys were no match for us there are no weak crews in the New World. He didn’t want you to get hurt, because he cares about you. We all do.”

Sanji thought right after saying it that maybe that last sentence had been a bit too much. They would be dropping Kyla and her brother off at the next inhabited island, so forming attachments would do nothing but make that parting harder on everyone. Still, for as long as she was with them, Kyla deserved nothing but the best that they could give her, so he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

The baby burbled, and Kyla looked from him to Sanji. “I think he’s hungry.”

Sanji went over to the fridge for one of the bottles Chopper had helped him make, and as he heated it carefully Kyla clambered up onto one of the chairs. The chef had no clue why Chopper had thought infant-care supplies were a thing that belonged in the infirmary of a pirate ship, but he couldn’t exactly complain when it had made this whole ordeal about a billion times easier. Once the bottle was about body temperature, he handed it over to Kyla.

The baby began drinking as soon as the bottle was held to its mouth, and Kyla’s smile was soft and fond. As it drank up, Sanji turned back to the stove, testing the sauce to double check that it hadn’t suffered too greatly from the time he had spent fighting. Once satisfied, he turned the heat back on and resumed stirring as if he hadn’t just beaten the crap out of a dozen or so men, most of whom were probably at least twice as heavy as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to dottenator for the second half of this chapter. Fight scenes are the bane of my existence.


	7. Adros Island

Today was the day. Kyla had thought she’d be happy for the chance of a fresh start, but instead she found herself incredibly nervous as she packed her meagre belongings into a small bag Usopp had given her. Nami’s old shirt, some diapers for her brother, and the weights she used when she was training. Her sword sat next to the bag, and her heart sank as she realized this was everything in the world that she could call her own. Some weights, some diapers, a way-too-big shirt, and a wooden sword attached to a length of rope.

Her brother burbled from his crib, and she shrugged on the bag. The rope belt which held her sword she knotted around her waist, and as the baby began whining she scooped it up out of the crib to hold against her chest. Once they found somewhere to stay, one of the Straw Hat Pirates would come back and grab it. Franky made really cool things, but a whole crib was a bit much for her to carry.

The door to the kitchen opened, and Sanji poked his head in with a tight smile that didn’t quite reach his visible eye. “All packed, e-” he shut his mouth for a second, then his smile softened into something more familiar. “You ready to go ashore, Kyla?”

She nodded, and adjusted her hold on the baby. The blond chef had been doing that a lot lately, pausing before her name. When she was helping with the dishes after dinner the day they’d been attacked by those pirates, he’d called her egg before catching himself. _Egg_. That had been five days ago, and he’d nearly slipped up two-tens-and-six times since then. She’d been counting, since Zoro had suggested she practice that when she was doing things other than training, and actually just now it was two-tens-and-seven times he’d almost messed up her name. She followed him through the kitchen, where the step stool she used to help out was tucked next to the bench, and out onto the deck.

Her brother wriggled in her arms, and she shifted her grip on him again. He was much easier to carry now than he’d been when she snuck onto the ship with him, a fact she was happy to believe came from all the training Zoro made her do, but he was still pretty hard to hold onto when he started fussing. She would try to bundle him back up again, but the threadbare old shirt she’d been using must have been thrown away because she hadn’t seen it since Chopper took her brother on that first day.

The rest of the pirates were gathered by the railing closer to the island, except for the robot who was already in the fairly shallow water at the foot of the ladder, and Kyla pretended not to notice the looks on their faces. Why would they be sad she was leaving? She would go with them to the next island, that was the deal Sanji struck with his captain. She was grateful that she hadn’t been thrown overboard with her brother, but she wouldn’t miss them. She _wouldn’t_.

“Hey, Kyla.” Luffy grinned, crouching down and reaching out to ruffle her hair. “Sanji is gonna take you around the island to see if there’s a town somewhere, and if there is he’ll come back and make Zoro carry the crib over, okay?”

Zoro made a face which prompted Sanji to smirk, and as they began bickering Kyla nodded. “And I’ll never see you again.”

The rubberman’s face fell at that, and his gaze flicked to the still-squirming baby as Kyla shifted her grip again. “Does your brother have a name?”

Kyla blinked as the assembled pirates quieted down. “Um, no?” she looked down at his face, now round and chubby, the first hint of pointed teeth beginning to show in his gummy smile. “I was gonna let him name himself, once he was old enough. It’s what I did.” she looked back up at the Straw Hat crew, whose tense expressions had faded into something not quite sad, and her mouth twisted in confusion. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no.” Nami shook her head. “Just, usually kids grow up with a name their mom gives them.”

Kyla looked down at her brother, and shifted her hold on him so she could properly see his face. She hadn’t even thought of giving him a name, or letting anyone else do it either, but if they found anybody on this island he’d get a name anyway so… “Do you wanna help name him?” she looked up at the pirate crew, and Luffy’s grin was too wide to be natural but at least he had a normal number of teeth.

“How about Ultra Baby?”

Kyla giggled, and shook her head. “That’s a silly name.”

“Because it’s not a real one.” Nami rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t even name a ship, what makes you think you can name a child?”

“Sharky Baby!” Luffy slammed a fit into his open palm, as if the redhead hadn't spoken.

“How does David sound?” the navigator suggested, ignoring her captain’s second attempt at a name.

Kyla shook her head. David didn’t sound right, for some reason.

“Dante.” Usopp proposed, and Kyla shook her head again.

Robin waited until the child’s eyes met hers to suggest Kurinsky, but Kyla shook her head at that one as well.

The skeleton pitched Eugene, and was met with Kyla’s crinkled nose and complaints from the other pirates, but it did make a little sense to the girl that a skeleton would suggest an old-fashioned name. The reindeer man’s contribution was Jace, another no, though the baby seemed to have realized it was the subject of conversation and had stopped squirming. Kyla turned her eyes to Zoro expectantly, and smiled as he visibly realized he was expected to contribute to the discussion.

“Koshiro?” he suggested lamely. Kyla thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. It sounded almost formal, and also kinda long. Her eyes were drifting towards the man standing nearest her, but everyone’s eyes turned to the railing as the robot’s head poked up over it.

“What’s taking you guys?” he frowned.

“We’re naming my brother.” Kyla answered quickly, bouncing the baby in her arms. He cooed, having realized he was being talked about, and smiled at the robot.

“Oh.” the robot grinned. “I’m great at naming things. What about Tommio?”

Kyla thought about it for a second, then shook her head.

“Ooh, ooh!” The captain’s eyes gleamed as half the crew- and Kyla- turned to look at him. “Maximum Baby!”

Nami clubbed him on the head with her blue weapon thing, and Kyla slowly turned her eyes up to meet the cook’s.

“How does Theodore sound?” Sanji suggested a few moments after their eyes met.

The girl’s face split into a wide grin. “It’s perfect!” she looked down at her brother, and squeezed him gently. “Now you’re Theo.”

The baby laughed, and grabbed some of Kyla’s hair that had fallen forward to tug on.

“I think he likes it.” she laughed, shifting her hold again so Theodore’s head was resting on her shoulder. He started chewing on her hair, but she didn't mind.

“Alright.” Nami clapped her hands once, drawing everyone’s attention. “If we want to continue on to Soreth we can’t spend more than half a day here, so let’s get going.”

Kyla looked from her brother to the island as the pirates began to get off of the ship. “This isn’t Soreth?”

“No,” Nami shook her head, looking worried. “It’s too flat. This is Adros island. We must have detoured further than I thought if we’re all the way over here.”

Kyla said nothing, just looked down at her brother. They might find a town on the other side of this island, or they might be disembarking onto an island without a single other human being. She’d figure something out either way, but a town would be better. She didn’t really have much of a clue how to survive in a forest, much less on an autumn island. Spring islands like Nareta she could probably manage, but here? Kyla shivered as she started trailing after Sanji along the coast. Hopefully there was a town on the other side of the island.

\---

Kyla groaned and sat down heavily on a log, not caring that it was covered in strangely coloured moss. Her feet ached, the straps of her bag were biting into her shoulders, and Theodore was definitely heavier than he’d been at the start of the walk. Why did Adros have to be so big?

She’d been sitting for about a minute when Sanji crouched in front of her, worry written clearly on his face. “You doing alright, e-” he made a face like he’d just bitten his tongue. “Kyla?”

Two-tens-and eight times now. She nodded, and pushed herself to her feet. She was a big kid, she could do this. “I’m good.”

“Want me to carry Theo?” he held out his arms, and after a moment she nodded. The infant fishman barely stirred as he was settled against the cook’s shoulder, and Kyla smiled as she patted the fluff of pink hair he was growing.

They kept walking after that, Sanji making a game of naming the various plants and animals they saw, and it wasn’t until the sun was getting low in the sky hours later that Kyla realized she could see the black flag of the Straw Hat Pirates flying over the tops of the trees. Her legs felt like lead, and she was pretty sure she’d have bruises from her bag’s straps, and as her heart sank she fell down in the sand. She and Theo would be all alone here. Sanji was in front of her much faster this time, and Kyla didn’t protest as he pulled her up by the hand.

“E- Kyla?”

Two-tens-and-nine. She refused to look up from her feet. Tears were welling in her eyes, and dang it she was supposed to be a swordsman now. Swordsmen didn’t cry, not even when they got hurt so bad they should be dead, so she had no right to be crying over something as stupid as the idea of being alone with her baby brother. In fact, being alone with him should be a relief after a lifetime of getting yelled at by adults and even other kids for the fact that she didn’t have a home or family.

“Hey, hey.” Sanji knelt in front of her and placed his free hand on her cheek, gently tilting her head up so she was looking at him. “What’s wrong?.”

Kyla balled her hands into fists, and tried to blink the tears back into her eyes. “I’m fine.” she tried to smile, but the cook frowned so she guessed it wasn’t very convincing.

“Did you step on something? Are you tired?”

She shook her head, and grabbed the hem of her shirt to wipe her face with. “I’m okay, really.”

Sanji sighed, and set Theodore on his knees so he could grip her shoulders. “Kyla, it’s okay. I won’t be mad, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She shook her head, and her breath hitched in something uncomfortably close to a sob. “You don’t gotta be mad to leave.”

The cook’s face scrunched in confusion for a moment, then his eyes widened and he carefully set Theo down on the sand. He shifted his weight to his knees, and Kyla stumbled slightly as he pulled her into a tight hug. “We’re not going to leave you here, Eggplant.” he said softly, one hand rubbing circles on her back. “You’re coming with us all the way to Soreth.”

Kyla sniffled, and pressed her face against the cook’s shoulder. He stank of cigarette smoke, but she grabbed his jacket and pressed her face into his shoulder anyways. “Promise?” she mumbled into the dark fabric.

“Promise.”

She could hear the smile in his voice, and Kyla sniffled as he pulled away. He was still smiling, soft and sad, and she pulled her shirt up to wipe her face again. 

“Come on, let’s get back to the ship.”

Kyla nodded, and turned to scoop Theodore into her arms. Half an hour of walking later, Kyla allowed Sanji to take the infant fishman from her arms. After another hour, when the flag had disappeared behind high cliffs topped with fruit-heavy elderberry bushes, the girl allowed herself to be picked up and carried. She clung to Sanji’s back, arms around his neck, and promptly fell asleep.

\---

Nami covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. Sanji had left not quite five hours earlier, Kyla trotting alongside him with a bag on her back, sword on her hip, and little brother in her arms. Now they were returning, but Sanji had the baby rested against one shoulder and the other arm was supporting a sleeping Kyla on his back. She had briefly imagined Sanji carrying both children shortly after they were found, but this was even better than what she’d visualized.

“No houses?” she smirked.

“Not so much as a footpath into the woods.” he replied smoothly, kneeling near the edge of the water. “Kyla, we’re back.”

“Already?” the little girl mumbled, her voice carrying crystal clear over the sound of the gentle waves.

“Yeah.” Sanji nodded, letting her down off of his back. “I can carry Theo up the ladder, but you’ll have to climb on your own.”

Nami smothered a grin. The whole thing was so ridiculously domestic, she wished she had a camera to take blackmail pictures. Kyla was halfway asleep on her feet, probably tired out from a full afternoon of walking through sand, and Nami smiled even wider as Sanji ushered the child towards the kitchen. Gods, she was never going to let the cook live this down.

\---

Kyla woke in the infirmary bed with her sword still strapped to her hip, and Theodore snoring quietly in his crib. She laid there for a few seconds, just listening, breathing as quietly as she could manage. Everyone was in the kitchen. Luffy and Franky were laughing, Brook and Usopp were trying to talk over each other, Nami was yelling and- Kyla sat up and turned towards the door that went from kitchen to infirmary. Sanji wasn’t. Sanji was rarely silent when he and Zoro were in the same room, and she could hear Zoro laughing now at something Usopp or Brook had said.

“Hey, sleeping beauty.”

Kyla grabbed her sword, and tried to pull it from its spot at her waist as she leapt to her feet. Between the unfamiliar angle and the blanket still clinging to her, however, the wooden weapon caught and the force intended to bring her mostly harmless blade to bear instead went into the blanket wrapped around her. The world pitched forward and sideways, and Kyla yelped as the floor came up towards her. She shut her eyes and tensed, ready to land on her face, but the impact never came. Instead, hands caught her by the shoulders and gently pushed her back up onto the mattress.

“You okay, Eggplant?” Sanji chuckled, and Kyla cracked open one eye. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth, and his smile was soft.

“Yeah.” she nodded, trying to wriggle out of the blanket which seemed almost like it had been deliberately wrapped and tucked around her. Sanji stood as she freed her arms, and she kept an eye on him as she re-tied the belt so her sword hung across her back like it was supposed to. “Why aren’t you having dinner with the rest of them?” she asked after a moment, kicking the blanket towards the end of the bed.

“I didn’t want to wake you up, but.” he turned to the desk, and picked up a plate of food. How had she not noticed that before? It smelled really good. “Luffy would’ve eaten your dinner if I left it at the table.” he held out the plate, and Kyla took it with both hands. It was still warm, and looked almost as good as it smelled.

She smiled, and sat down on the bed with her legs crossed. Sanji’s smile dimmed for a second before he handed over a fork, knife, and napkin, but he leaned against the end of the crib as casually as she’d seen him lean against the railing when he was chatting with the robot. She ate quickly, and the other pirates were still making a ruckus in the kitchen when she finished.

“Sanji?” she asked after a few long seconds of near total silence.

“Yeah?” he turned his head to look at her, looking far kinder than any pirate had a right to.

“Why did you call me eggplant?” she looked up at him, and the way he pursed his lips as he exhaled made her think he should be blowing smoke.

He took the unlit cigarette from his mouth, and looked at it for a long moment before answering. “When I was a kid, an old pirate saved my life. I was a skinny little twig back then, like you, so that’s what he called me.”

Kyla pursed her lips, then nodded. “Okay.” she smiled. “Then can I call you dart-brow?”

Sanji’s grin immediately went tight, and the girl’s smile turned mischievous. “No.” the cook said after a moment. “You can’t call me any of the names that idiot marimo has taught you.”

“Aww,” Kyla put on a pout. “But he’s already got all the fun ones!”

Sanji’s smile fell completely for a moment, but he quickly replaced it with a teasing grin. “You can call me Mr. Prince, if you want.”

“Nah.” Kyla shook her head. “I’ll come up with something.”

“Tell me when you think of a good one, okay?” Sanji hesitated for a moment, but reached out to ruffle her hair. “Want to help with the dishes?”

Kyla shook her head. “I haven’t done any training today. Zoro would be disappointed if I didn’t get in at least an hour before bed.”

“Alright then.” Sanji nodded, taking her plate and cutlery. “Go bother moss-for-brains until he shows you how to use that sword on your back.”

\---

When Usopp had first mentioned that Kyla wanted him to teach her how to be a swordsman, Zoro had thought that teaching her couldn’t be that tricky. Sure maybe he wouldn’t be the best, but Koshiro had made it seem fairly easy, and _he'd_ been teaching whole classes. He’d been very wrong about that. Trying to teach her was frustrating, and since he couldn’t train properly while keeping half an eye on her it was also exhausting. There needed to be more hours in the day, really.

Kyla’s stance was wide, again, and he nudged her feet back into place. She was too stubborn to give up, at least, so even when he had to correct her every few minutes she didn’t complain. It really was frustrating, how little she knew. He’d been just as ignorant at her age, but so much of what she didn’t know was muscle memory for him by this point that it was difficult to remember what she needed to learn first.

“Hey, Lil Sis.”

Zoro rolled his eye, and lowered his sword as Kyla turned to look at the robot’s head sticking through the trapdoor. “Hi, Mr. Robot.”

“C’mon, it’s Big Bro Franky.” the shipwright pouted. “But uh, you should probably come down to the deck.”

“I’m at six-tens-four out of seven-tens-five.” Kyla frowned, and Zoro nearly smirked. She had her priorities in order, at least.

“It’s Theo.”

Zoro’s almost-smile dropped, as did Kyla’s sword. “What happened?” she blurted, wooden blade striking the floor as she ran to kneel just in front of Franky. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, but you should come down.”

“I’ll be right back up, okay?” she turned to look at him, eyes pleading and shoulders stiff with worry.

“Go.” he made a shooing motion with his hand, and she was out of sight in a heartbeat. Brat could be a damn speed demon when she wanted to. Franky was still there, though, and Zoro frowned. “What?”

“You might wanna see this. Kyla won’t be back up here for a while.”

\---

Kyla skidded to a stop in front of Nami, and looked frantically between her, the stranger, and Sanji. Her eyes finally alighted on Theodore, safe in the cook’s arms, and her heart began slowing to a more reasonable speed. “What’s going on?” she looked between the two pirates and the stranger, gaze lingering longer on the unfamiliar face. His mouth was stuck out away from the rest of his head, and his red-brown hair was shaped into ridiculous curls like a pair of horns coming out the side of his skull.

“Kyla, this is Martinson Tatius.” Nami said smoothly. “He’s the captain of that ship.” the navigator nodded her head, and Kyla looked where she gestured. There was a boat almost as big as the one they were on now anchored not too far away, with a seahorse in the front instead of a lion flower thing.

“They’re headed back to Fishman Island, and they’ve offered to bring Theo with them.”

Kyla’s eyes flew wide open, and she snatched her brother from Sanji’s arms. “No!” she reached for her sword, but her hand closed on empty air and she remembered dropping it in the crow’s nest. “No, you can’t take him!” she turned to run away, but a hand clamped down on her shoulder before she made it three steps.

“Kyla, listen.” Nami said sternly. “Just hold still, and listen.”

Once she realized the navigator’s grip was deceptively strong, Kyla stilled and sullenly turned back to face Sanji and the redhead.

“We had Franky go get you because you’re Theo’s only family right now, so you should have some say in this.”

“I don’t wanna give him to anyone.” Kyla stuck her chin out stubbornly, clutching her dozing brother to her chest.

“Kyla, these fishmen are good people. They’ve already sworn to take good care of him until they get home, and find him a nice family when they get there. Theo deserves to grow up with people who know how to care for him.”

Kyla held her brother tighter, fingers curling in the obnoxiously patterned fabric swaddling him. “Will I get to see him again, if I give him to you?” she looked the fishman stranger in the eyes, adjusting her grip on Theo. She had to at least pretend to think about it, or they’d make the decision for her.

“I’ll tell his parents that he has a sister sailing with the Straw Hats.” Tatius smiled, which looked really weird with how his mouth stuck out from his face like a straw. “They’ll surely let him see you the next time you’re at Fishman Island.”

Kyla looked at her brother, face scrunched up in his sleep, then turned her eyes to Sanji. “He’s my little brother. How can I protect him if we’re not together?”

The cook let out a long sigh, and got down on one knee so that they were closer in height. “Sometimes, the best way to protect somebody is to let them go.”

Kyla sniffled, and lowered her head to press her face into Theodore’s peach fuzz of pink hair. “I don’t wanna.” she mumbled, hands curling into fists in his swaddling blanket made of one of Franky’s old shirts. “I wanna keep him.”

Sanji sighed, and reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. “We have another few hours before the log pose resets. Think about it.”

\---

That night, as they sailed away from the empty island, Sanji leaned on the railing at the back of the ship and chewed on his cigarette. He’d avoided thinking about it, tried to ignore the feeling and hope it’d go away, but he couldn’t do it anymore. He cared about Kyla, much more than he should given how she first came to be with them. Just hours before, he’d hated seeing her give away her brother. Not because he particularly cared for the child, but because it so obviously pained her to give him to the fishmen. And even earlier, when she was crying on the beach, he would have said almost anything to make her smile instead. If he wanted to protect her, though, he would have to accept that, like her brother, she would be safer in a normal home, away from them. Away from him.

“Take your own advice, idiot.” he muttered, dropping his head and grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes. A while later, once his cigarette had burnt out, Sanji straightened up and flicked the cold butt into the sea. They were far enough off course that it would take at least another week to reach Soreth, and if that wasn’t enough time, well, he’d endured worse pain than leaving an almost-crewmate behind on an island of their choosing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a very good reason Zoro refers to training Kyla as ‘exhausting’. Since he can’t train her while doing his own workout, he has to do it when he would normally be napping, and those naps actually make up the majority of his sleep cycle. According to Oda in [SBS 74](http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/SBS_Volume_74), our beloved marimo only sleeps for _three hours_ every night. Also, Zoro’s pov was initially going to be longer but the scene didn’t flow right from his perspective. Heck, the scene _itself_ was supposed to be longer but Kyla wasn’t cooperating.


	8. Mother

The day after leaving Adros, Sanji was woken obscenely early by somebody shaking his shoulder. He’d never been a particularly heavy sleeper, but ever since Sabaody he woke at the slightest sense of a threat. Oddly enough, the persistent hands on his shoulder didn’t come with any hint of malice. Not even the baseline of urgency he’d expect from one of his nakama waking him for a fight.

“Psssst.” a voice hissed, far quieter than he’d been expecting. Higher pitched, too. Not Nami or Robin or Chopper though, which left…

“Kyla?” he sat up and rubbed a few grains of sleep from his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Why-”

“I thought of one.” she grinned, eyes wide in the darkness.

“One what?” the cook frowned, sitting up so his legs hung over the side of the bed.

“Nickname for you.” the freckled little girl fairly beamed, bouncing in place.

Sanji sat up a bit straighter. “Already?”

“M-hm.” Kyla nodded, a clump of hair falling forward over her bangs and obscuring the left side of her face. “I’m going back to bed now.”

The blond blinked a few times, and brushed her unruly hair back up to sit with the rest of her poof. “Alright?” the girl grinned, and leaned ever so slightly into his touch. Sanji smiled despite himself, and dragged his fingers briefly through her wiry corkscrew curls.

“Night, Mom.” she grinned, rocking onto her tip toes to give him a peck on the cheek.

“Good night, Kyla.” he smiled, not bothering to blink away the sleepy heaviness which weighed down his eyelids. Kyla had already skipped out of the room and shut the door behind herself when her words finally registered with his brain.

“ _Mom_?” he half choked, the last traces of sleep vanishing as his eyes flew open. Oh god, had he actually responded to that? His face went burning hot before he remembered the more important question. Why had Kyla called him that in the first place? He wasn’t motherly! So maybe he treated her with the same reverence as Nami and Robin, but she was more like a little sister than a daughter, if anything.

Racking his brain, he recalled what she’d said when she was sure he was awake. A nickname. She thought that was a nickname? That was the furthest thing from a nickname he could think of. He started to get out of bed, but stopped before he’d fully stood up. He couldn’t go wake Kyla back up just to tell her that her no doubt carefully chosen nickname was unacceptable. That sort of news should be accompanied by hot chocolate, or a nice smoothie. No, he’d tell her later. In the morning.

The blond laid back down and closed his eyes, but it felt like a long time before he got back to sleep

\---

Come morning, Sanji dressed and entered the kitchen halfway on autopilot. His crewmates trickled in according to their usual sleep patterns, with Zoro and Kyla arriving just moments before he called to wake up Luffy, and he set down filled cups in front of the three ladies in the few moments between Luffy waking up and arriving in the kitchen. Tea for Nami, coffee for Robin, and orange juice for Kyla. The young girl beamed up at him, and Sanji had just stepped away to put the tray down on the counter when she spoke.

“Thanks, Mom.” her grin was audible, and he distinctly heard three people choke.

“Mom?”

Sanji could _hear_ the marimo’s wicked grin as he wheeled back to face his crewmates. Sure enough, Zoro looked like it was Christmas morning, except nothing that dumbass did could ever be so pure and innocent, so it was more accurately described as the _Grinch_ on Christmas morning.

“You,” he levelled a finger and a glare at the swordsman. “do not get any input on what Kyla chooses to call me.” he turned his gaze to the child standing between Nami and Chopper’s seats and gave her a smile. “And you’re welcome, Kyla.”

The child grinned, and Luffy burst into the room with Brook and Franky in tow. Kyla perched on the bench to eat, and Sanji made a mental note to question her about her choice of nickname before Zoro had a chance to do more than grin evilly about it.

\---

After breakfast, Kyla dragged the stepstool over to the sink and grabbed a dishcloth while Sanji ran the water hot. He’d only passed three dishes to her before he sighed and paused. She turned to meet his eyes, then her gaze flicked to the pile of dirty dishes and she frowned in what was unmistakably confusion. “Did I do something wrong?” she turned to look at the pans she’d already dried, and when she looked back her face was full of more worry than any little girl should ever have to endure.

“No, not at all.” he said quickly, setting down the scrubbing pad.

“Okay.” Kyla looked back at the cold, slightly sudsy rinse-water, and Sanji turned back to scrubbing dishes.

“Why mom?” he asked after a long, heavy silence.

Kyla jumped slightly, but managed not to drop the plate in her hands. “What?”

“Of everything you could’ve chosen to call me, what made you pick mom?”

The dark skinned girl ducked her head and gripped the dish in her hands tighter. “Well, I was thinking about what Nami said before Theo got named, about how moms name their kids, and then I started thinking about what the normal kids on Nareta said moms do, and it’s all stuff you do, so...” she shrugged her narrow shoulders, setting the dish with its fellows and picking up the next one. “Idunno, it felt right.”

Sanji frowned slightly. “What mom things do I do?” he asked, trying very hard not to sound hostile. God he needed a smoke.

“Well, you named Theo.” Kyla grinned cheekily, and the cook snorted despite himself.

“You named him. The rest of us just made suggestions.”

Kyla shrugged, and made a face like she was thinking. “You do all the cooking, and you clean up the kitchen every night. You make sure everyone who’s not on watch is sleeping before you go to bed, and Zoro said you protect everyone when you’re fighting.”

Sanji frowned slightly. Why would Zoro have told her something like that? Not that it wasn’t true, the two of them did fight defensively when the situation called for it, but he couldn’t imagine the moss brains thinking to mention it.

“Plus,” her voice got quieter, and she ducked her head so some hair fell in her face. “You were really good at taking care of Theo.” she sniffled, and Sanji’s heart leapt into his throat. Shit, was she about to cry? “Sorry.” she dragged the back of her free hand across her eyes a few times, and took a few deep breaths like the kind she’d been taking earlier. “I’ll just keep drying.” she grabbed another plate, and blinked hard as she started wiping it dry.

After a few seconds which felt nearly endless, Sanji caved.

“You know,” he said as casually as he could manage. “You can keep calling me mom if you want to.”

“You’re not just saying that?” the heavily freckled girl glanced up, one dark eye hidden behind her messy hair.

“No.” Sanji shook his head. “You can call me whatever you like, Kyla.”

“Even swirly brow?” she grinned hesitantly, then wider when Sanji’s smile turned into a frown.

“You can call me anything, _except_ what Zoro calls me.”

“I still think he’s got all the best ones.” she huffed, crossing her arms. Sanji chuckled, and if his hands hadn’t been wet and soapy he might’ve ruffled her hair.

“Sorry about that, Eggplant. Now come on, these dishes aren’t going to wash and dry themselves.”

\---

Sanji nearly fumbled the new cigarette he drew from the box, but at least his fingers were sure as he pulled out and flicked open his lighter. Unfortunately, tonight the nicotine wasn’t helping his nerves at all, so when he jammed his hands in his pants pockets it was partially to hide how they shook with pent up energy. He levelled a glare at Zoro, but the infuriating marimo just grinned that big dumb self-satisfied grin and shifted to a deliberately relaxed posture. Fucking asshole.

“She calls you _mom_.” he grinned wider, eyes glinting with mischief, and the cook realized that the moss brain was actually as stupid as their captain when it came to things like other people’s feelings. Well, maybe not _as_ stupid, because to be as dumb as Luffy was a feat in and of itself, but pretty damn close.

He’d barely lifted his leg for the first kick when two blades were in Zoro’s hands, the white one still safely in its sheath, but the impact of his heel against the marimo’s swords rang loud in the relatively quiet evening.

“Come on, _Mom_.” Zoro taunted, countering and forcing Sanji to dodge along the railing. “Aren’t you supposed to be the one telling us violence isn’t the answer?”

“I’m not a lady!” the chef snapped, the toe of his shoe nearly connecting with Zoro’s skull before the asshole dodged backwards, giving him some space. “And violence is apparently the only language marimos speak.” he spat that last part, and the weight on his chest lightened as Zoro rose to the bait. There was something almost relaxing about fighting the swordsman, the sound of steel as blades sliced through the air just fractions of an inch from his face far less intimidating than it probably should be.

Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper, sitting on the railing with fishing rods, turned to watch and cheer at every near miss. Sanji blocked them out, ducked a swing of both swords which could’ve cut his head off if he’d not known the marimo for years, and drove his heel into the middle of Zoro’s stupid green haramaki. The flames which flickered around his ankle guttered out quickly as the swordsman went flying, and he smirked as his crewmate went down on the other side of the railing.

“Zoro!” Chopper yelled, and the cook’s snarky comment about marimos and the sea died on his lips as the little reindeer leapt to his feet. Usopp’s eyes went wide as well, and Sanji swore loudly as their captain and doctor both leapt into the water after the useless asshole swordsman.

“Luffy!” Usopp screeched, dropping the fishing rod on the deck and diving after their captain.

“I got Chopper!” a voice came up from the water next to the ship, and Sanji sighed in relief.

“Guess you’re good for something after all, marimo.” he called back, only half smiling as he watched for Luffy’s hat to break the surface.

“Could you let down the ladder, shit cook?” Zoro snapped, barely sparing Sanji a glance before returning to watching the water. 

Normally he would’ve jumped on the chance to tease Zoro some more, especially after what the moss brain had said just a few moments ago, but he wasn’t going to force Chopper to stay in the water any longer than was absolutely necessary. Zoro’s feet were only three rungs out of the water when Usopp broke the surface with a huge gasp, Luffy’s arm over one shoulder and the captain’s head hanging back limply.

“A little help?” the sniper spluttered, going under for a heart stopping moment before bobbing back up.

Sanji was shucking off his jacket when Zoro yelled “Oi, Cook.” from his place on the ladder. Not two seconds later, Chopper flew up over the railing, his tiny limp body followed by an almost taunting “Catch.” from the swordsman. He managed to snag the back of the reindeer’s shirt, but the waterlogged weight of their furry crewmate nearly yanked his arm from its socket.

“A little warning would be nice.” he yelled down, hauling Chopper up and laying him on the grass. There was no answer, because of course Zoro wouldn’t see any problem with his actions, but the important thing was that the marimo was now climbing the ladder again, now with their captain over his shoulder instead of the doctor.

Usopp flopped onto the deck last, groaning about how much simpler grabbing Luffy seemed when Zoro and Sanji did it, and the cook breathed easier as he set about putting away the ladder. As the swordsman sat dripping wet between two of the crew’s Devil Fruit users, however, he gave Sanji a smug grin.

“Good to know you’re worried about all of us, Mom.” his eyes glinted with glee, and despite the obviousness Sanji couldn’t help but rise to the bait.

“Yeah, thanks Mom.” Usopp laughed, squeezing seawater out of his hair before the chef could voice his retort.

This time the flames which appeared on his legs didn’t disappear with one kick, and when he stalked off back to the kitchen he left the sniper and swordsman lying on the deck, bruised and steaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every once in a while, I find myself glad of Sanji’s sexism as a plot tool. For example, if a little boy had called him mom he would’ve told the kid no and closed the discussion. But a little girl? Well, he can’t very well tell someone so precious and innocent that they’re _wrong_ , now can he? Also, important note, Zoro's face when Kyla calls Sanji mom at breakfast is essentially [this](http://25.media.tumblr.com/95dec05fced31bb97af4bced0f861138/tumblr_mkg9blMQDP1rgl079o6_250.gif). Originally I had a bit showing where Kyla was during the sparring match, but it didn’t flow quite right so it was cut. Just know that she didn’t witness it.


	9. Kidnapped

“Kyla?” Franky looked around the grass deck, and scratched his head. The kid wasn’t anywhere, which made no sense considering they were on a ship in the middle of the ocean. It wasn’t like she could just hop overboard without somebody noticing. Somebody like Usopp, who was apparently taking a nap under the tree instead of keeping watch like he was supposed to be.

“Hey, Usopp. Wake up bro.” Franky shook the sniper as gently as he could, and frowned at the lack of reaction. None of them were particularly heavy sleepers, save Luffy and maybe Zoro, but even they woke when shaken. “Usopp.” he shook the sniper harder, and still got nothing. Not so much as a mumbled ‘go away’ or ‘five more minutes’. That was worrying, to say the least. Then he spotted the wooden sword lying under the swing, and his stomach dropped. The rope which sat across Kyla's chest to hold it in place had been sliced in two.

“Chopper!” he yelled, gathering the unconscious sniper in his arms along with Kyla’s sword.

“What?” the doctor stuck his head out one of the infirmary's potholes, and his eyes widened at the sight of Usopp. "What happened to him?" the tiny reindeer fell out the porthole and scrambled over to the cyborg and unconscious sniper.

"Idunno, but this was next to him." Franky opened his hand, and if it was possible for a reindeer to blanch then Chopper certainly did at the sight of the cut rope.

"Kyla's been kidnapped?" the doctor yelled, and Franky heard the crash of breaking glass before the kitchen door flew open. Sanji took one look at the wooden sword with its ruined strap, Usopp unconscious in the cyborg's arms, and he was at the port side railing in less than a second.

" Marines." the cook spat. "Luffy!" he yelled, turning to quickly scan the deck for their captain.

Chopper dragged Franky into the infirmary to lay Usopp down on the bed, not quite as neatly made as usual, and when the cyborg emerged into the kitchen again he found everyone gathered there. Brook was helping Sanji pick up pieces of a shattered cup by the sink, but everyone else was sitting at the kitchen table. Franky took his seat, and Zoro held out a hand almost expectantly. The shipwright carefully handed over Kyla's sword, and Nami brought her hands to her mouth as the swordsman laid it out on the table. The rope strap which sat across their little stowaway's chest had definitely been cut, and combined with the fleeing Marine ship and Usopp's condition, there was only one conclusion to be drawn.

"The little one has been taken, then." Robin said evenly, doing a much better job of not looking as distressed than Nami and Zoro.

"Why are we sitting around, then?" Sanji frowned, sweeping that last shards of glass into the trash. "We should be going after those Marines and getting her back!"

"Should we really?" Franky frowned. "I like lil sis as much as you do, but won't she be safer with the Marines? They can get her to Soreth no problem."

The room was silent for a minute, the suggestion heavy in the air.

"No."

Every head turned at the quiet voice coming from the door to the infirmary, and Luffy's face lit up at the sight of their sniper up on his feet again.

"Usopp!" the captain bounced to his feet and leapt across the room to wrap the darker teen in a hug.

"Luffy, let go of him." Nami chastised.

"He shouldn't even be out of bed yet." Chopper piped up, hooves on his hips.

“No.” Usopp repeated vehemently, shaking his head. Luffy stepped back to give him room to breathe, and to his credit the sniper only swayed slightly when he drew himself up straight. “When she leaves it should be her choice.”

“Alright.” Luffy stood up and tilted his hat back, a confident grin on his face. “We’re gonna go save Kyla.”

\---

Kyla's head ached, and her mouth felt uncomfortably dry when she tried to swallow. Had she fallen asleep in the crow's nest? No, it was too cold for that, and didn't smell right either. Come to think of it, the only place on the Sunny which could be called chilly was inside the fridge. Unless they’d sailed into the climate of a winter island?

Sitting up, Kyla's blood ran cold. She wasn't wearing her sword across her back, and it wasn't by her hands either. Her eyes flew open, automatically going to scour the room for her most precious possession, and she had to blink hard to clear the sudden tears from her eyes. They had given her up already, without so much as a chance to say goodbye. She wasn't quite sure why she was in an unfamiliar infirmary, but it was unfamiliar and that meant she'd been handed over to whoever ran this ship.

Kyla curled her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. Of course they'd kept all their things. That's probably why they knocked her out before making the trade, too. So they wouldn't lose the stuff she'd so foolishly thought of as her own. Her breath caught in her throat, and she exhaled deliberately through her nose to avoid sobbing. In through her mouth for ten-and-one, out through her nose for seven, repeat.

That lasted for all of a minute before she choked on a sob, and had to press her eyes against her knees to ward off huge hot tears.

It felt like ages she sat there on the hard metal table in the cold doctor's office, desperately trying to stop crying. She'd never planned to stay with them forever, they were pirates. Oh who was she kidding, they were her family now. She'd finally found a mom to love her, big brothers and sisters to protect her, a sensei to teach her swordsmanship, everything she'd ever wanted and then some.

Kyla had nearly cried herself out when the door opened, and her plan formed in the blink of an eye. She'd noted where several possible weapons were while looking for her sword, and with a smidgen of luck she might be able to regain some control of her situation.

"Oh, you're up." a young woman in a Marine uniform stood in the doorway, and Kyla's blood ran cold before she could even leave the paper covered table. The Marine stepped into the room, and Kyla desperately wished she had her sword. Her hands clenched into fists, and she plunged one into the pocket which held her first knife. It felt flimsy and light, weirdly shaped after knowing the feel of a real sword’s hilt, but she could deal.

"Whoa, it's okay." the Marine held up her hands, but Kyla kept her knife up and her eyes narrowed.

"My name is Zappa Jyotsna. This uniform means I'm here to help kids like you." the marine waved a hand to indicate her outfit, as if anyone didn't know what a Marine uniform looked like. "You're safe now. Those nasty Straw Hats won't be holding you hostage anymore."

Kyla nearly dropped her knife. They thought she'd been kidnapped, that they had saved her somehow. "No!" she blurted, bringing her hands together to grip the knife handle tighter.

The brown skinned Marine sighed and adjusted her baseball cap, making the dark brown ponytail behind her head bob. "I know you're probably confused right now, but don't worry. We're the good guys." she smiled, and opened the door.

Kyla stood petrified as the Marine woman called for a Doctor Gagnier, and sat down heavily when a short pale man with mousy brown hair walked into the room, only barely remembering to tuck her knife back in her pocket before they thought to take it from her. The doctor asked simple questions, and she answered each one numbly. Her name, the date, how many fingers he was holding up. All questions Chopper had asked when she woke up after the time Zoro clocked her over the head hard enough to knock her out.

Once the doctor had decided she hadn't been hurt by whatever made her fall asleep between the Sunny and this ship, two more Marines appeared to take her to another room with a metal table and two uncomfortable looking chairs, and one wall was covered with a massive mirror. One of them was already occupied by a huge man with a coat hanging from his shoulders. The Marine escorts seated her in the empty chair, and then left the room. The door clicked behind them, and Kyla gripped the knife in her pocket. Pulling a shiv on a ranking Marine easily four times her size was an awful idea, especially when she was alone and had no idea how to get out of here.

"Private Zappa tells me you were rescued from the ship of the Straw Hat Pirates."

His voice was unremarkable, deeper than Usopp's but not deeper than Zoro's. Kyla looked at her knees, and tightened her grip on the plastic knife.

"Why is a child like you out at sea on her own?"

"I wasn't." Kyla answered before remembering she shouldn't talk to Marines if she wanted the Straw Hats to take her back.

"Were you with your family, or another group?" the Marine asked, making a note on his pad of paper.

"My family." Kyla answered, almost biting her tongue on the last syllable. She shouldn't call them her family. She was only with them until they reached Soreth, and then they'd leave her. God, she shouldn't have given up Theo, then she wouldn't have to lie.

"Your family?" The Marine raised an eyebrow and jotted something else down. "Where were you headed?"

Kyla bit the inside of her cheek, and the Marine sighed.

"Where are your family now," he glanced at his sheet. "Kyla?"

"Back on the Sunny." she said, and then shut her mouth so fast her teeth clacked together. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They thought she was a normal girl with a proper home and family, not a stowaway almost-pirate who slept in the infirmary.

"The Straw Hats have your family?" The Marine's face twisted in anger, and Kyla pulled her knife from its pocket, holding it along her thigh. If he lunged across the table at her, she'd at least be able to buy herself a few seconds.

"No." she shook her head. Theo was well on the way to Fishman Island, and the Straw Hats didn't _have_ Sanji. Not like this man was implying.

"Then where are they?"

"On the Sunny." Kyla frowned slightly. Why was she still answering these questions?

"Kid, you just said the Straw Hats _don't_ have your family captive. Which is it?"

Kyla looked deliberately over the man's shoulder and kept her mouth shut. Maybe it wasn't too late to keep quiet and hope they'd let her go.

"Is one of your parents on the ship, Kyla, or did they only take you?"

The young swordsman ducked her head, and resisted the urge to hurl her dagger and run. For all she knew, the door was locked from the outside.

"How long have the Straw Hats been holding you hostage? What island are you from? Where were you separated from your family?"

With every question Kyla's grip on her dagger tightened, until her knuckles were almost as pale as Luffy's skin and her palm was screaming. Hard plastic dug into callouses born of gripping cloth-bound wood and gently textured metal, but the dark child refrained from lashing out with her flimsy blade.

"Do you have a home? How many siblings do you have? Do you have two parents, or only one? What do your parents do?"

Kyla clenched her right hand into a fist, nails digging into callouses when just weeks ago they would've bitten hard enough to draw blood. If she tried to lie it’d fall apart, so she just had to stay quiet until they let her go.

The Marine stood up with a sigh, and Kyla glanced up from her knees as he left the room. A few minutes later the door opened, and Zappa entered with a plate of funny smelling food. Kyla wrinkled her nose, but her stomach growled. It had been a while since dinner, and to the best of her memory she'd spent the majority of that time running around the deck chasing Usopp and being chased in turn.

"This is for you." The female Marine said, holding up a fork and knife. "But, only if you start answering questions again."

"What's in it?" Kyla crossed her arms, not bothering to loosen her grip on her knife.

"Chicken, I think." The Marine frowned a little, tilting the dish slightly. "Rice, broccoli, and a glass of milk. No poison." she smiled kindly, at odds with the cold room and her crisp clean uniform. "I know you've been a prisoner of pirates, but we Marines do our best to treat innocents like you right."

"When it suits you." Kyla muttered, slouching in her chair.

"Excuse me?" The Marine, probably not much older than Nami, looked almost personally offended.

Kyla shrugged. The food didn't smell particularly appetizing, and it didn't look much better, so she directed her eyes to the table and started counting her breaths.

"Kyla, you're afraid, I understand that." the Marine woman spoke softly, and Kyla forced herself not to grit her teeth. In for ten-and-one, out for seven. She wasn't helpless, not anymore, and she'd never been stupid.

"You're afraid that the Straw Hats will chase you down and take you back, but we won't let that happen."

Kyla tightened her grip on her knife again. They didn't know anything at all. She wasn't afraid that the Straw Hats would come for her, she was afraid that they would decide the Marines could take her to Soreth and let these uniformed thugs sail away with her.

"The vice-captain thought that perhaps you would be more willing to speak to me, since I was the first person to speak to you. We just have a few questions to ask, and then you can help us fill on the details after you've eaten. How does that sound?"

"Can you promise you'll give me back to my family if I do what you say?" Kyla asked after a moment, shifting her grip on the knife's handle to better suit a slashing motion. She couldn’t lie for shit, but if talking was the only way to get that food then she’d rather speak now and get it while it was warm.

"I'm afraid I can't guarantee that, but we can help you find your parents if you'll tell us where they are, and we will make the best effort to reunite you."

Kyla's stomach growled, and she nodded once.

"First, how long were you on the Thousand Sunny?"

"Two-tens-one days." She answered after a moment, having counted them off in her head.

"You mean twenty one?" the Marine raised an eyebrow. Kyla's knife hand twitched, and she didn't answer.

"Twenty one days with pirates." The Marine said slowly, quill scratching across the pad of paper. "Do you have any family?"

"Yes." Kyla nodded once.

"Siblings, parents?"

"One each." Kyla thought of Theo, far away and getting further, and was suddenly glad she'd given him up. The Marines would have taken him from her anyway, and at least this way she knew he was safe.

"How many on the pirate ship?"

"One." Kyla's heart sped up. She'd agreed to their terms, and she was still shit at lying outside of small bluffs. Always had been, but it had never been a problem until now.

"Parent or sibling?"

"Parent."

"What is your parent's name?"

The quill's scratching ceased, awaiting her answer, and Kyla's mouth went dry. Her mind was racing, but when her mouth opened she hadn't thought of a fake name to give.

"San-" she shut her mouth so hard her teeth made an audible sound and her jaw ached, but the Marine woman's eyes were widening. She shouldn't have said anything, should've kept her mouth shut and endured no matter how hungry she got. Now she'd said too much, and there was no way the Marines would give her back to the Straw Hats.

"You're the daughter of Black Leg Sanji?" the Marine reached across the table, and Kyla flinched away but not fast enough. Her bangs were swept to the side, revealing the uneven curly eyebrows everyone on Nareta had laughed at. The eyebrows which were so nearly identical to her saviour's, only flipped to point the other way across her face. The door flew open, and she made a break for it.

Large hands caught her by the right arm and by the hair, but let go when she lashed out with her knife. She had to get up onto the deck. She wasn't sure what she'd do from there, but before anything else she had to know where she was.

She made it all of five feet before she was grabbed and lifted by the hair. Her wrist was caught when she lashed out blindly with her knife, and then twisted until she had no choice but to release the warped plastic handle.

"Damn pirate brat!" a massive Marine snarled, and Kyla kicked desperately. Her heels met nothing but air, and the hand gripping her wrist tightened until she thought her bones would snap in two.

"Lemme go!" she yelled, tears of pain springing to her eyes. "I wanna go home!"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere." the brute holding her growled, his breath reeking of old alcohol and the same funny smell which had clung to the food Miss Zappa offered. "We Marines don't just let pirates go. Not even little runty ones like you."

Her scalp was screaming, and when Kyla was dropped into the waiting grip of two equally large Marines she very nearly collapsed on the spot. They marched her through a series of identical corridors which made her wonder just how big of a ship they were on, and finally she was stood in a small room front of a man with a camera Den Den Mushi.

One of the Marines removed his tie and knotted it too tight around her head, yanking her bangs up off of her forehead to fully reveal her distinctive eyebrows. For some reason, having her forehead bare made the young swordsman feel more vulnerable than anything. She managed to claw the makeshift headband off before the camera flash, and got a solid punch to the gut for her troubles.

The second time, knuckles cracked across her jaw hard enough she nearly bit her tongue in two. The third time, cold metal cuffs were cinched tight enough around her wrists that they bit painfully into soft vulnerable skin. She glared defiantly at the photographer, and wished she could just jump and get her hands around in front of herself.

A few flashes later, she was grabbed by both elbows and marched again down the indistinguishable halls. This time they went down several flights of steep narrow stairs, and the door they stopped in front of had another uniformed woman standing guard in front of it. Behind the guarded door was a line of cells, each tiny and unfurnished save a small bucket, and three of the ten occupied.

"You'll be right at home here, ya little criminal." One of the Marines escorting her laughed cruelly as the woman who had been standing guard unlocked the first empty cell. "Pirate scum, all the same."

Kyla grunted as she hit the floor, taking most of the impact with her right shoulder. The door clanged shut behind her, and her heart sank at the sound of a lock clicking shut. Sure she thought of the Straw Hats as almost family, and when she said home it was the Sunny which came to mind, but to the kind pirates she was still just a stowaway. Sanji had defied his captain for her once, but she doubted he’d do it a second time.

Seated, it was easy enough to get her hands and arms in front of herself so she could wrap them around her knees. The other prisoners looked her over, then seemed to decide she wasn't worth paying attention to and went back to their own low conversations. The punches she'd been dealt earlier were starting to bruise, and no breathing exercises could stop her breath from hitching in quiet sobs.

\---

Everyone tensed as one, and as soon as Sanji turned to actually look at the second Marine ship he saw why. A fairly high ranked officer was clutching Kyla to his chest. That in and of itself was a crime in the blond’s eyes, as no dirty Marine should ever be touching such a sweet and innocent girl, but what had everyone on edge was the gun he was pressing to her temple.

“Listen up, Straw Hat Pirates!” the man boomed, voice carrying easily across the space between their ships. “We have Black Leg Sanji’s daughter here, and if you don’t turn yourselves in and surrender within the next two minutes, I will kill her myself.”

“Leave her alone!” Nami shouted, ClimaTact already assembled in her hands. “She’s an innocent girl, she hasn’t done anything wrong!”

Sanji loved when Nami stood up for her beliefs and defended their friends, but at the moment he was too worried about Kyla to tell her so. The young girl was fidgeting, trying to squirm free of the Marine’s grip and away from the gun pointed at her head, but it was fruitless. He was easily three times her height and at least a hundred pounds heavier, most of it muscle, and on top of that her hands had been cuffed together. The very sight of such a brute anywhere near Kyla had him rearing for a fight, even if he hadn’t also been threatening her very life.

“As the daughter of a filthy pirate, her very existence is criminal, and her life is forfeit to the Marines.”

At that, the ship went quiet, and Sanji could almost feel the waves of hatred emanating from Luffy. Robin was also exuding similar emotion, but Sanji knew better than to assign such a nasty thing as hatred to such a beautiful woman. No, she was merely aggressively protective, with a nice dash of righteous indignity thrown in.

“Hey, Robin.” Franky’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet, and Sanji knew that if he could bear to tear his eyes away from Kyla that he would see his cyborg friend seething. “How fast could you snap that dude’s neck?”

“Not fast enough that I can guarantee he won’t pull the trigger.” the look on the archaeologist's face could easily have been called a scowl, and her tone was colder than ice. “Long-nose, could you get that gun pointed away from the little one?”

“Of course I could, but not before that Marine has time to react. It’s too risky.”

It was a mark of how serious the situation was that Usopp didn’t even try to lie about his prowess, and Sanji swallowed as the Marine grinned.

“Well, Straw Hats? Time’s ticking.”

Luffy put one hand on top of his hat before shouting out across the distance between the two ships. “Hey, you can’t hurt Kyla, okay? Because she’s our friend, and if you hurt her then we’re gonna have to beat you up. But we’re not turning ourselves in, either, so I think you’re just going to have to give her back.”

The Marine looked honestly surprised by that, as if nobody had warned him that trying to threaten Luffy in any way was impossible. Judging the distance between the two ships, Sanji wondered how hard it would be to just jump across. He might need to Sky Walk, but at the moment he was pretty sure that summoning the rage necessary to pull that off would be easier than ever.

“Hey, Sanji. I kinda lied to that guy.”

Sanji turned his head enough to look at his captain, who was also being unusually soft spoken, but not so far that he couldn’t still keep an eye on the bastard holding Kyla hostage.

“Really?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna kick his ass even if he gives Kyla back. You take care of her, and we’ll do the rest, all right?”

“Sure thing, captain.”

With a grin, Luffy turned back to the Marine ship, raising both hands to his mouth to make sure his voice carried. “Yo, Marine guy! Are you gonna give her back or what?”

“Of course not! Your two minutes are up, pirates. Turn yourselves in right now or I’ll shoot Black Leg’s daughter.”

With those words he tightened his grip on Kyla, raising his arm up to her neck, which she responded to by biting down on his forearm. He let her go with a bellow of pain, gun pointing up in the air for a split second, which was long enough for Usopp to draw back a pellet and knock the offending weapon into the face of a Marine who had the misfortune to be standing behind Kyla’s captor. The young girl wasted no time in grabbing a sword off of the stunned sailor, whipping it around and slicing a visible line of red into the outstretched arm of the man who had been holding her hostage mere seconds before.

“You little _bitch_!” The Marine’s uninjured arm swept forward faster than she could move the blade to block, especially with her wrists cuffed together, and Kyla’s small body was knocked overboard in a single hit. Before Sanji could even think to react, Robin took action, crossing her arms and closing her eyes in concentration.

“ _Vingt fleur_.”

Twenty arms grew out of the side of the ship to catch the girl neatly in a net of limbs before she could fall more than ten feet. As the Marine began yelling orders to his crewmates, Luffy launched himself onto the other ship with a shout of anger, dragging Zoro and Nami with him. Sanji kicked off, not even sparing a moment to regret singing the grass on the Sunny’s deck as he leapt across the ocean to reach the girl who had wormed her way into their lives. He heard a few gunshots, likely directed at him, but none connected thanks to Usopp’s crazy plant slingshot taking out every single one out in mid flight.

“Mom!”

The second Sanji landed in Robin’s net of hands, Kyla jumped up and tried to spread her arms wide enough for a hug. When the handcuffs prevented that, she simply gripped the front of his jacket as if her life depended on it. The cook wanted nothing more than to drop to his knees and hug her, but at the moment he had bigger things to worry about, so he settled for ruffling a hand through her hair.

“Come on, Eggplant. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to risk Sky Walking back across the gap while carrying Kyla, since stray shots were flying everywhere, and even if the air was clear he wouldn’t want to damage Robin’s hands by using them as a launch pad. After a moment of consideration, he decided that the best thing to do was break into the Marine ship and find Luffy so the captain could carry Kyla back. His rubber body could take any shots which might injure the girl, and most of them probably wouldn’t even hurt.

“Kyla, I’m going to need you to let go so I can get us out of here, all right?”

The young girl let go of him immediately, face flushed even darker than usual, and Sanji did his best to balance on Robin’s beautiful hands as he leaned over to kick a hole in the side of the ship. The wood caved in after the first kick, shoddy workmanship that Franky would have scoffed at, and he briefly surveyed the empty room on the other side of the hull before waving to Robin and leading Kyla into the bowels of the enemy vessel.

The net of hands disappeared as soon as they were both inside, and Sanji knew that Robin would be focusing every ounce of her energy on the battle that was raging above them. Ten ships full of Marines weren’t a challenge even on their worst day, but these people had taken and hurt and threatened Kyla, and that was unforgivable. Sanji had to resist the urge to pick up the girl as they made their way towards the deck. If they ran into any Marines he would have to put her down to attack, and at this point if he picked her up he was never going to be able to let her go. He had a feeling that he was going to be having nightmares about that Marine for a long time, and what might have happened if she hadn’t gotten free on her own.

With that thought, Sanji noticed that Kyla was still holding the sword which she had grabbed from the hapless Marine hit in the face by a flying gun. She must have put it down to hug him, and picked it back up before they boarded the ship. As battle trophies went, it wasn’t the worst thing she could have grabbed, and he was pretty sure that the marimo would be happy to see that she finally had some real steel to practice with instead of just those wooden sticks.

It took a few minutes to get find the stairs to the top deck, which had nothing to do with Sanji’s sense of direction and everything to do with how out of the way the room he kicked into had been. If it had been the idiot marimo with Kyla, they would probably have been stuck down there for a few hours. Of course, the fact that it wasn’t an instantaneous trip meant that by the time they were back under the open sky the fight was over. Brook had gotten himself onboard somehow, and was cleaning blood off of his sword with a scrap of cloth taken from a Marine uniform. Nami was the first to spot Sanji and Kyla, and she ran over to grab the little girl in a smothering hug.

“Oh my gosh, we were so worried about you!” she held Kyla away to arms length and gave her a stern look. “Don’t ever do that again, do you understand me?”

Zoro snorted. “Get kidnapped, or trust Usopp to actually keep watch?”

The swordsman was rewarded for his snark with a pellet of some foul smelling gas to the face, and Kyla giggled. Nami released her, glancing behind Sanji, and the cook turned around to see their captain looking down at them from his perch on a railing, his expression startlingly serious.

“Kyla, those Marines said you were Sanji’s daughter. Why did they say that?”

The girl fidgeted, and Sanji realized that it was a very good question. He hadn’t even blinked when the Marine had announced that they had his daughter, though that could be attributed to the mix of fear and fury inherent to the situation. Now that all enemies were beaten to a pulp, though, they had time to question _why, exactly, the Marines appeared to think he was a father_.

“Well, um.” Kyla fidgeted some more, stepping slightly away from Nami and looking at the bloody boards of the deck rather than at their faces. “They kept asking questions about my family. I wasn't gonna say anything, but then they said I couldn't eat until I answered some. I didn't mean to say you were my family, I swear!" she looked up from the deck to give them the most pleading face, and Sanji felt like pulling her into a hug again. This time it was Luffy's laser gaze which made him halt, but he did put a hand on her shoulder.

"Did you say anything else?" his voice was unusually serious, and Sanji gave Kyla's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Nuh-uh." the lightly battered little girl shook her head, gaze dropping back to the ground. "After I said my parent on the ship was Sanji they stopped asking me questions, and did some stuff with a Den Den Mushi, and then they left me alone for a while before that guy came to get me.” she pointed at the fairly well maimed officer slumped against one railing, and glanced briefly up from her feet to give them the most frightened look Sanji had seen on her adorable face since, well, the day he found her hiding in the hold.

The cook had a brief moment to be thankful that she apparently hadn’t explicitly told them which parent he was, as he wasn’t sure if he could handle the Marines finding out that a six year old girl called him her mother. This thought was, of course, interrupted by Luffy laughing and breaking out a grin far too wide for anyone whose facial muscles couldn’t stretch at will.

“Well then, that’s okay!” he dropped to stand in front of Kyla, and adjusted his hat on his head. “I thought they were just guessing because of your eyebrows, or maybe they had someone who was psychic or something. That would be scary.”

With a literal bounce in his step, Luffy made his way over to the railing facing the Thousand Sunny, looking at the unconscious Marines piled there for a moment before grabbing one by the hair and hauling him to a sitting position. With a twitch, Sanji recognized the man as the one who threatened Kyla, and he took a step sideways to keep himself between the two of them.

“Hey, you. Marine guy, wake up.” their captain slapped the officer in the face when shaking him violently didn’t work, and the pain apparently shocked him back into consciousness.

“What- Straw Hat!” the Marine seemed to realize the state of the ship and its crew, and went from startled to angry almost as fast as Luffy could when the situation called for it. “What have you done to my crew?” he snarled.

“I want you to listen to me, Marine guy.” Luffy said calmly, showing no signs he’d even heard the officer speak. “You said you were going to kill Kyla, and that’s not very nice. Kyla is Sanji’s daughter, but she’s also my friend, and nobody is allowed to hurt my friends. Do you understand?”

The man nodded, clearly terrified now that he was realizing he really was in close proximity of the man crazy enough to take on Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Marineford, and escape from each one alive. Luffy nodded back, his usual smile nowhere to be seen, before turning to Sanji. “I know you’re pretty mad because he tried to hurt Kyla. Did you want to beat him up? Someone did already, but he’s awake again now if you really wanted to.”

Sanji almost laughed at his captain’s tone of voice, but held his tongue in favor of contemplating the offer. “Nah.” he shook his head after a moment. “If I tried to take all my anger out on him, he wouldn’t survive it, and I’d rather he pass on your message to his bosses. Besides, it looks like he passed out again already.”

Luffy nodded and released the man’s collar, letting the unfortunate Marine flop back onto the deck alongside his subordinates before bouncing back up, all smiles as if nothing unusual or terrifying had happened at all. “Come on, Kyla! Let’s get you back onto the Sunny, okay? Gum Gum...”

Without any further warning, Luffy stretched an arm out to wrap around all five of his friends, pulling them close as his other arm shot out and latched onto the Sunny’s mast. Sanji was sure that he shouted something as they flew through the air, but he couldn’t make it out over the rush of wind in his ears. While travel by Luffy was usually the fastest way to do things, it was never going to be comfortable.

Thankfully, Kyla landed safely in Chopper’s fuzzy Guard Point, but the rest of them crashed into the deck headlong. Luffy sprang right up, grabbing Nami and running off to the prow of the ship while babbling about their next destination, leaving the other three to pick themselves up on their own.

“That impact was so strong I felt it in my bones. But of course, I am nothing _but_ bones! Yohohohoho.”

Chopper and Kyla chuckled at the skull joke, but they were the only ones. If he wasn’t sure that the statement itself would be turned into a joke, Sanji would tell Brook that his humour was as old as he was. Still, Kyla thought they were funny, so he supposed he could suffer through them. Once back on his feet, Sanji turned to see the girl chatting with Chopper as if nothing had happened. The reindeer had brought her little wooden sword over, and she was clutching it to her chest along with the Marine’s blade as she assured the doctor that she was fine besides her bruised face and swollen wrist. For some reason, the cook felt exhausted despite the very small amount of actual exertion, so for the moment he was content to lean against the railing and watch.

“Chopper, don’t you think that what the little one really needs right now is some time to decompress? She seems in reasonable health to me, although of course I am nowhere near your level of medical expertise, and I’m certain that a checkup would be significantly easier once she’s had time to calm down.”

“Shut up, you jerk! Don’t think that just because you called me an expert I’ll listen to you!”

The look on the tiny doctor’s face betrayed his true feelings, as usual, and Sanji couldn’t help but grin as Kyla shifted her grip on the two swords she now carried and walked over to Zoro, who had yet to put away one of his swords. She looked nervous, and Sanji wondered whether or not he should go over and rescue the darling precious child from the marimo, and at the flash of steel he nearly did. However, all that happened was the swordsman snapped the chain on Kyla's handcuffs in two and sheathed the blade. The cook was fairly sure that'd be all, but to his surprise Zoro dropped down to one knee to speak to her face to face.

“You did a good job up there, Kyla.”

“But he knocked me overboard, and I only got one swing in.”

“You distracted him enough for us to get to you, and that’s the important thing. You won that fight, though it probably doesn’t feel like it. You even got a katana out of it.”

She smiled at that, and Sanji let out a long breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He felt like he desperately needed a smoke, but Chopper had said that it was bad for kids to be around cigarettes, and he trusted their doctor’s judgement. Well, his judgement and his many many pictures and vivid descriptions of the negative effects of secondhand smoke on children. It almost made him regret taking up the habit. Almost.

“I did.” Kyla looked down at the sword in her hands, then back up with a hopeful smile on her face. “Hey, does this mean we can fight with real katanas some time?”

Zoro made a very strange face at that, and Sanji made a mental note to ask him about it later. Before long, his face schooled itself back into something more normal looking, which he ruined by smiling.

“Maybe we can do mastery tests with real katanas, but not normal training. If we did, I’d have to hold back, and that wouldn’t help you at all.”

“Okay. Thank you, Zoro.”

Before Sanji could even pretend that he hadn’t been staring, Kyla turned to look right at him. He grinned at her, and she dragged her feet over to stand next to him.

“Are you feeling okay, Eggplant?” he reached out to hold his hand over a nasty black and blue blotch which covered half her jaw. If he knew which of those filthy Marines had done this, he'd probably be cleaning brain matter off his shoes tonight. Keeping the epitaph of Black Leg was nowhere near as important as ensuring that brutes willing to hurt such a kind little girl never had the chance to do so again.

Kyla placed her own small hand over the worst of it, and winced slightly. “I’m sorry I told the Marines I was your daughter.”

Of all the things Sanji might have expected her to say, _that_ was not one of them. “Why?”

She looked up at him, and Sanji really hoped those weren’t tears forming in her eyes because he didn’t know what he’d do if such a wonderful little girl cried because of him.

“They weren’t going to try to fight you guys until I said that. I heard them talking, and they said that they were just going to take me somewhere safe because they weren’t equipped to take you on, but then I said I was your daughter and they called a bunch of other ships to fight you, so it’s my fault that you had to fight.”

“Kyla, we don’t blame you for that.” Sanji frowned, and if he’d been smoking he would’ve taken the cigarette out of his mouth. “Really, Luffy and Zoro might even _thank_ you considering how much they’ve been itching for a fight these past few days, but either way it could never be your fault. Just because a bunch of shi- _lousy_ marines were jerks doesn’t give us any reason to be mad at you.”

On impulse, he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around the young girl, which seemed to be the perfect thing to do because she immediately threw her arms around his neck and hugged him with all of her wiry six year old strength.

“I was so scared they were going to take me away and I would never see you again.” she mumbled into his jacket.

Sanji wanted to comfort her, to tell Kyla that as long as he lived he would never let anyone take her away from him, but then he remembered that they would be leaving her behind on Soreth Island, and he bit back the words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can blame [dottenator](http://archiveofourown.org/users/dottenator/pseuds/dottenator) for that last line. She is _evil_. She also wrote the confrontation with the Marines, because that is _so_ far outside my area of expertise.


	10. Brother

Kyla woke with a yawn, and sat up in the bed she’d started thinking of as her own. Her wrist still hurt where the Marine had twisted it, but the ache was dull under the tight bandages Chopper had applied. Sanji was already up, she could hear him making breakfast, and as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes she heard another sound. Or rather, a voice.

“Thank you, Sanji.”

Robin was up too? Kyla grinned, and swung her legs over the side of the bed, suddenly almost grateful Chopper had demanded she not train today. After all of the doctor’s fussing over her bruises and apparently sprained wrist, she’d forgotten to thank the pale pirate. Yeah, Sanji had been the one to jump down between the ships and get her back, but first Robin had made a web of arms to catch her.

“It’s nothing, Robin dear.” the cook’s silly grin was audible, and Kyla had her sword’s rope carrier knotted around her waist almost as soon as her feet hit the floor. It was annoying that the rope was no longer long enough to sit over her shoulder, but this was how Zoro wore his swords so she should probably get used to having hers like this anyways. She glanced at the sword propped up against Chopper’s desk, still very sharp and very real, shining even in the dim light of pre-dawn.

“Of course, Mom.”

Robin’s amused smile was audible as well, and Kyla grinned as she gripped the doorknob. She’d only started calling him that because Dad seemed too serious, but if the rest of the crew thought it was a good nickname then she must’ve picked really well.

“Robin.” Sanji’s tone had lost all its earlier warmth, and Kyla’s hand froze in place. “Please don’t call me that.”

“Oh?”

Kyla could practically hear the archeologist raise an eyebrow, but the freckled child remained frozen in place.

“Well, you’re older than me.” Sanji’s tone was light, almost flippant, but even Kyla could tell that it was a forced levity.

“That’s not all though, is it?”

Kyla drew her hand back from the doorknob and clutched the hilt of her wooden sword. She’d not had it for long, but the grip was already a familiar comfort in her palm.

“Sanji,” Robin was probably frowning slightly now, with the way her tone radiated concern. “you’ve been tense ever since the little one decided on her name for you. More so since we retrieved her from the Marines.”

Kyla’s stomach sank, and she stepped back from the door. Sanji hated her. He hated her, but he was too set on being nice to girls to say so to her face.

“It’s nothing, just...” Sanji sighed, and the quiet sound of knife meeting cutting board ceased. “I hope she didn’t tell the Marines.”

“She did, though.” Robin said slowly, obviously confused. “She admitted to claiming you were her parent.”

“Yes, but if she specified which one...” there was a pause as the cutting noises resumed, though Kyla could barely hear them over the pounding of her heart. “I’m not sure if I could live with that. I’m nobody’s mother, least of all-”

Kyla clapped her hands over her ears, and turned to the door that lead out onto the back of the ship. It opened easily and silently, as all the doors did, and her sword banged against her right leg as she ran outside. The wind whipped at her hair and cut right through her threadbare T-shirt, howling in her ears as she sprinted around to the stairs. Chopper had said she wasn’t allowed to practice, but surely that didn’t include meditation.

The climb to the crow’s nest was easy even with her wrist so tightly bandaged it couldn’t hardly turn, and when she stuck her head through the trapdoor it was to see Zoro lifting weights larger than himself. He barely glanced at her as she skirted the edge of the room, making a beeline for the small stash of candles and matches which had appeared in one of the little under-bench storage things shortly after she started using them to meditate. The tiny flame flickered to life, and she curled up on the bench with it.

Unfortunately, her breathing refused to stop shuddering with quickly throttled sobs, and no amount of staring at the cheerily dancing candle flame could make her brain stop racing in circles. Sanji hated her. He hated her, and her nickname for him, and he probably wished they’d never gotten her back from the Marines in the first place.

Hot tears pricked at her eyes, and she pressed her face into the tops of her bent knees to ward them off. A quiet sob slipped out, and she bit down on her lip. Swordsmen didn’t cry, not ever, and especially not when they were supposed to be meditating. She took a deep breath, but as she was exhaling it turned into another sob. Zoro sighed, and the dark little girl jumped slightly at the sound of her sensei’s heavy metal weights being set down gently on the adam wood floor. She quickly scrubbed her face clean, and pasted on a smile. She was shit at lying with her words, but back on Nareta she’d gotten darn good at lying with her face.

“Alright.” the swordsman sat down on the other side of the candle and fixed his single dark brown eye on her. “Who do I need to kill?”

Her heart jumped in her chest, and Zoro chuckled. "Just kidding." he reached out and ruffled her hair hard enough to make her whole head shake. "Bad dream?"

Kyla shook her head, deliberately this time, and sniffled. "Sanji hates me."

For half a second, the swordsman looked like he'd just been clubbed over the head with something exceptionally heavy. Then his face furrowed with a frown, and he glared at the kitchen door. "He said what now?"

"That he was-" her breath hitched in a sob, and Zoro draped a large dry towel around her shoulders. Kyla gripped the edges tightly, and pressed her face against her knees again. "He's ashamed of me." she wiped her nose on the edge of the towel.

"The useless love cook said that?" Zoro scowled. "Next time we spar, I'll kick his ass for you."

"Do you think he really hates me?" she hiccuped, wiping her eyes.

"I don't know." Zoro answered with a shrug. "But if you want to find out, I can help you with that."

"How?" Kyla blinked away the last of her tears, and shifted so her legs were folded sideways on the bench.

"Well, first of all, you stop volunteering for dish duty." the swordsman smiled slyly, and Kyla found herself slowly grinning back.

\---

Sanji frowned at the stepstool in the corner of the galley, untouched for the past three days. The first had been understandable, since Chopper was adamant that Kyla not stress her wrist, but she'd shed the bandages on the second day. She'd also started spending _all_ her time with Zoro, and as he did the lunch dishes with Usopp the cook could hear them laughing out on the grass deck despite the pouring rain.

"You okay, Sanji?" the sniper asked, concern writ large across his face.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he snapped, perhaps pressing a bit harder than he strictly needed to to scrub bits of dried sauce off the edge of a plate.

"Well, you look scary, but you're not smoking." Usopp very carefully kept his eyes on the dish he was drying, and didn't pause long enough for Sanji to get a word in edgewise. "And Kyla is outside training with Zoro instead of in here helping you."

"What's that got to do with anything?" the cook frowned, casting his crewmate a glare that made the long-nosed teen shiver.

"Nothing, nothing. Just saying."

Sanji huffed, and after gently setting the plate in the rinse-water he dried his hands and grabbed a cigarette. He usually didn't smoke while cooking, an old habit from back on the Baratie, but for reasons he didn't care to examine at the moment it didn't feel right to light up while washing either.

Usopp left for his factory below decks as soon as the drying was done, and Sanji set about putting away the newly cleaned dishes. It bothered him far more than he liked to admit that Kyla had taken to Zoro since the Marine incident. They'd come into breakfast together the morning after, and she’d trailed out after him when he was done. Now it seemed that wherever the marimo was, so was Kyla.

If he was napping on the deck, she was meditating right next to him with her little candle. If he went up to the crow’s nest to train, she followed him up and only came down hours later on his heels, both of them covered in sweat. She tagged along after Zoro like a puppy, and if the marimo was trying to play mind games with him then getting Kyla involved was the most underhanded blow he could’ve possibly used. Unnervingly effective, but still underhanded.

The door opened as he was tucking the pots back in their cabinet, and of course it was Zoro who walked into the room. So much as _think_ of the devil and he shall appear, with his adorable sidekick in tow. Kyla trotted at his side, hair weighed down with rain and bangs plastered to her forehead. She hopped up on one of the chairs between the table and counter, and Zoro grabbed two cups along with the water jug. Sanji shot the swordsman a glare, and to his surprise the marimo _didn’t_ counter with a smug smirk. Instead, he met the cook’s glare head on and glared right back, as if Sanji had said something actually offensive.

“Kyla darling.” the blond smiled, turning to the little girl swinging her feet at the table. “Would you like something other than water?”

“I’m good.” she replied, not turning to look at him.

“Here.” the marimo held out one cup, which Kyla took with both hands and a beaming smile.

“Thanks, Zoro.”

Sanji stubbed out his cigarette and went out onto the deck. If Zoro wanted to mess with his head, that was fine. Once Kyla was safely settled in on Soreth he’d gladly return the favour, but it wasn’t fair to drag an innocent little girl into the middle of the shitstorm which was his and Zoro’s not-quite friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to fanon (probably derived from the post-Enies Lobby filler) Zoro is really good with small children. His advice isn't the best, but hey, he's Zoro and the problem involves Sanji.


	11. Soreth Island

"Promise you'll keep training until you find a dojo that'll teach you right, okay?"

Kyla nodded, her left hand on the handle of her wooden sword. Zoro looked upset, though she couldn't figure why. He'd only ever complained about how hard it was to teach her when he thought she was asleep and couldn't hear him in the kitchen with Franky. Maybe he was pissed at the cook for something? That seemed likely.

The swordsman nodded back, and she shifted her bag on her shoulders. Most of the other Straw Hats had said their goodbyes, leaving only the captain, the sniper, and the cook clustered around her.

"Hey, Kyla." Luffy crouched so they were the same height, and ruffled her hair. "Grow up big and strong for us, okay? Eat lots of meat."

The dark girl giggled, and grabbed the pirate captain's hand to lock pinkies with as he pulled it away. "I'll eat as much meat as they let me. Pinky promise."

The rubberman's face split in a supernaturally wide grin, and he pressed their thumbs together. "Pinky promise."

Sanji was next, and Kyla looked at her bare feet planted in the grass. He was probably just gonna say goodbye quickly, like the robot and skeleton and miss Robin, and then go back to the kitchen and get lunch made without her underfoot.

Sanji knelt and pulled Kyla into a tight hug, tucking her head under his chin. "If they mistreat you, just give us a call on the Den-Den Mushi. We'll come right back here and set them straight for you."

Kyla blinked back the sudden burning tears which sprang to her eyes, and returned the hug with as much force as her tiny arms could muster. He did still care. He couldn't hate her, or he wouldn't promise something so huge.

"Thank you." she sniffled, pressing her face into his shirt. "For taking care of me, and sticking up for me, and-" she hiccuped, and Sanji chuckled.

"It's alright, eggplant. I wouldn't let you off this ship if I didn't want the very best for you." he ran a hand over her hair gently, barely disturbing the mass of curls. "Pretty girls like you deserve the best the world can offer, and that's not the life of pirates."

"Thank you." Kyla half gasped, the words as quiet as a breath against Sanji's neck. "For loving me."

The cook made a strangled sound and Kyla pulled away quickly, scrubbing the tears from her eyes before they could be seen. "I'm ready." she said firmly, surprising even herself with the steadiness of her voice.

Usopp smiled, brittle and fake, but Kyla pretended it was big and real. "Alright. Time to find you a proper home."

As they walked inland, Kyla let the sniper hold her right hand and kept the left on her swords. She held tight to what little she still owned in the world, and refused to look over her shoulder to see if any of the Straw Hat Pirates were on the deck watching her leave. She wasn't their nakama, so it wasn’t like it mattered anyways.

\---

Usopp stared at the form, quill pen in hand. He just had to sign on the dotted line at the bottom and it would be finished. One more word, one more box filled out, and Kyla would become a ward of the island's government. The first orphanage would have made her a ward of the man running the place, who radiated sleeze like Luffy radiated stupid and Franky radiated cool. The second place had been funded by Marines, and anywhere that would put Kyla in proximity with those goons was a horrible idea even by their standards. Considering the incidents at Enies Lobby and Dressrosa, that was saying something. The third would have made her a ward of the world government, and his skin had crawled at the sight of that symbol on the forms. They claimed it was so children could be adopted between islands without hassle, but he wasn't going to let Kyla go right into the hands of such monsters.

This place though, this one seemed alright. Firm-but-fair woman in charge, friendly volunteers to help out with chores and duties not appropriate for children to perform, and the lobby couches were just right for bouncing on, as Kyla had eagerly demonstrated earlier.

He touched the pen to the page, and signed the fake name they had agreed on. The woman behind the desk stamped it, and as she made eye contact with him Usopp's stomach dropped to somewhere around his knees.

"You can say goodbye while we get a bed ready, Mr. Kabuya."

"Thanks." Usopp grinned. Kyla had stopped bouncing, but he kept the smile plastered on. She didn't need to know how much this felt like a massive mistake.

"You're gonna say goodbye now, aren't you." the freckled little girl asked solemnly, her big brown eyes locking with his.

"Yeah." Usopp nodded, his expression brittle and precarious and the least believable lie he'd told in years.

Kyla launched herself from the couch, leaving her swords and bag of belongings on its dull green cushions, but even with only her own weight the impact against his legs nearly took the sniper down. "I don't wanna stay here!" Kyla gripped his pants tight, and butted her forehead against his thigh.

Usopp sighed, and pulled her away so he could kneel and get closer to her height. She threw her arms around his neck instead, and pressed her face into his chest.

"Kyla, we talked about this."

"I don't wanna stay here, I wanna go with you!" she looked up at him, and the sniper was fairly certain this was what it felt like to have your heart break.

"Sorry, kid." Usopp tucked her head against his shoulder and held her tight, as if that could stop their last moments from trickling away. "The papers are signed. But now you'll have a real home, and when you get adopted you'll have real parents too."

Kyla opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then her freckled face darkened with blush and she just pressed herself against him again, squeezing as tight as she could. Even in her short time with them, Zoro had made her so strong. Of course, even Nami was physically stronger, but Kyla was _six_. That made it pretty impressive.

Their hug lasted until the receptionist returned, and when he let go Usopp forced his smile to look bright and hopeful. "Go on," he got to his feet, but didn't break Kyla's gaze. "Have some adventures of your own." he turned and walked away at that, and if he heard a strangled 'Don't go' from behind him, well, he didn't look back.

\---

Kyla sat on the foot of the bed she’d been assigned, her name scrawled in marker on a piece of paper taped to the footboard. This was what she’d wanted. Admittedly, she’d thought at first that Theo would be here with her, but they were both safe. They were both going to get a real home, if Theo hadn’t already reached Fishman Island and gotten his, and Kyla resolutely tried to think of what sort of people she’d like to get adopted by. Her mind immediately wandered to Sanji, and she slapped her hands to her cheeks before shaking her head. No, Sanji didn’t want her so she wouldn’t want him. She’d wanna get adopted by a nice lady, maybe a lady swordsman, who’d teach her even better than Zoro and not complain about it ever!

The door creaked open, and Kyla looked over to see a pair of girls about her age peering into the room. The blonde ducked back behind the door when she made eye contact, but the smaller brunette grinned and waltzed on in.

“I’m Anne.” she held out a hand, small and soft and paler than any of the Straw Hats’ skin.

Kyla accepted the offered hand, and shook it briefly. “Kyla.” she replied, right wrist resting on the hilt of her wooden sword.

“I’m Ellie.” the blonde had apparently garnered enough courage to enter the room and sit on the adjacent bed, picking up a pale-spined book from under the pillow. She raised a hand to wave briefly, then opened the dog-eared tome and flopped down to lie on her stomach and read. Anne sat down heavily at the blonde’s feet, and pulled her feet up to sit crosslegged on the poorly made bed.

“So, your big bro dropped you off??”

Kyla nodded, swallowing hard to clear her throat. Usopp had gone over the story with her on the way up the hill, and came easily now. “Mom wanted me to have a nicer life.” she blinked rapidly to clear her eyes, then brought up her left hand to scrub away the lingering tears before they could fall.

“That sucks.” the pigtailed brunette commiserated, fiddling with the end of one of her braids. “Our mom and dad split, and mom left us here until she can get a good job again.” Anne shrugged, and lifted her right hand to fiddle with a tiny heart shaped pendant on a chain around her neck. “I’m sure your mom’ll come back for you too.” she grinned.

Kyla sniffled, and lifted the hem of her shirt to wipe at her nose. “Nuh-uh.” she shook her head, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “They’re leaving later.” her chest felt tight, and she pressed her forehead against her knees. They were _pirates_ , and if they didn’t want her then she wouldn’t miss them. She _wouldn’t_. But tears pricked at her eyes, and her nose threatened to run, and her throat had closed up so much that she couldn’t exhale without it coming out as a quiet sob.

“I wanna go home.” she whimpered, tears sliding down her cheeks.

“Ms. Lewis!” Anne called, hopping off of Ellie’s bed and trotting over to the door. “Kyla’s crying.”

“Who?” another voice came from somewhere else in the building, and Anne raised her voice slightly.

“The new kid.”

“Tell her I’ll be right there.” the woman’s voice responded, and Kyla looked up when the mattress dipped next to her.

“Ms. Lewis is really good at making me feel better when Ellie’s not around.” the tiny brunette smiled, evidently trying to be reassuring. “She even made Ellie smile once.”

“I smile.” the blonde huffed petulantly.

Anne beamed, and patted Kyla’s shin. “Nice meeting you.” she hopped down off the bed and trotted around to the door. “Ellie, are you coming?”

The blonde groaned, and Kyla heard the distinct sound of a book snapping shut. “Yeah. So long as we’re not playing tag.”

The sisters left the room, and Kyla pressed her closed eyes against her knees. She didn’t want to miss the Straw Hats, but being left here still hurt worse than any of the blows she’d endured back on Nareta. She’d finally found a family, and they left her here without so much as a backwards glance. But really, why had she expected anything else from a bunch of pirates?

She’d nearly gotten her breathing back to normal when the door opened again, the creak quieter this time but still there. “So, you’re Kyla.” a woman’s voice said, probably the Ms. Lewis that pigtailed girl had called for.

The bed dipped, and Kyla drew in another deep breath. In for ten-and-one, out for seven.

“Anne said you were crying. Do you want to talk about it?”

Kyla shook her head. She couldn’t talk about it, or she’d be telling that Usopp lied when he dropped her off.

“Do you want some company, or a hug?” the woman asked calmly. “I know it’s hard, to be given up at your age.” a warm hand was laid between her shoulder blades, and Kyla flinched away from the contact.

“Go away.” she mumbled into her legs, voice still thick with tears.

“Well, if you want to talk later, ask any of the big kids. They can show you where my office is.” the warm hand touched on Kyla’s shoulder briefly, then the bed creaked as Ms. Lewis stood. The door made a loud click as it shut, and Kyla lifted her head from her knees. She should be happy, staying in such a nice place until some grown-ups decided they wanted her to be theirs. She should be running around with the other kids, revelling in the fact that now she could play with them not fearing somebody would realize she had no home or family. There were so many things she could be doing, _should _be doing, but all she wanted to do was run back down the hill to the Sunny and stow away in the hold again. Even if Luffy really did throw her overboard this time, she’d know for sure... She wasn’t sure exactly what it was she would know, but that was unimportant.__

__“Kyla?” the door squeaked open, and she turned to see an older boy with pale purple hair sticking his head into the room._ _

__“There’s some men in the lobby who’re asking for you.”_ _

__The freckled girl straightened up immediately, grabbing the rope belt with her wooden sword and cloth-bound Marine sword from where it had been sitting behind her on the bed. “What’d they look like?” she knotted the rope over her left hip so the swords hung from her right._ _

__“Mean, kinda dirty.” the boy watched as Kyla grabbed her drawstring bag and slung it over her shoulders. “One of them’s a swordsman.”_ _

__Kyla’s heart soared, and she gripped the straps of her bag tight. They’d come back for her. A wide smile spread across her face, and she sprinted past the lanky boy in the doorway. The building’s layout was simple, and she could easily retrace the route they’d taken. from the lobby the first time. The lobby was just about empty when she entered, save the lady behind the counter._ _

__“They’re filling out the paperwork right now. Just wait on one of the couches.” the woman gave Kyla a stern look. “And no bouncing this time.”_ _

__Kyla rolled her eyes, and shrugged her bag onto the cushion she’d been bouncing on earlier. Her swords she left on her hip, and though the receptionist gave her a dirty look the rules only said no _shoes_ on the couches, and her feet were bare._ _

__After a few agonizingly long minutes, the door to the office opened up and three men walked out with the woman who’d given Usopp the papers to sign her in. Sure enough one of them had a sword hanging from his belt, but Kyla’s blood ran cold at the sight of them. Her hand closed over the hilt of her wooden sword, then she quickly moved it to yank on the knot which kept her Marine sword wrapped in a long strip of cloth. It came half undone, and the swordsman among them chuckled._ _

__“Aww, look. Black Leg’s brat thinks she can take us on.” he slid his sword from its sheath, and Kyla’s every hair stood on end at the sound. It felt wrong, evil somehow, worse than the sound of Zoro drawing his red-sheathed sword. “Go ahead, girly.” the man levelled his blade at her head, and Kyla gave the knot another yank. “Make this interesting.”_ _

__A third frantic tug unravelled the knot, and Kyla drew the Marine sword to point right back at the man. “I’ll do more than that.” she found her voice surprisingly steady, and lifted her chin to stare her opponent in the eye. “I’ll make this _hard_.”_ _

__\---_ _

__Sanji felt at ease in markets, amidst the hustle and bustle of shoppers looking for the same thing he was. As he examined a few choice cuts of meat, however, a pair of voices cut through the white noise of the crowd._ _

__“I mean, it’s a million beri for a six year old! This is probably going to be the easiest cash we’ve ever made.”_ _

__“Are we sure it’s her, though? I mean, why would Black Leg Sanji’s daughter be in an orphanage?”_ _

__“Why should I know? Maybe he got tired of her and decided to ditch the brat, he is a pirate after all. Whatever the reason, we can check if it’s really her once we get there.”_ _

__No matter how hard he looked, Sanji couldn’t see who was talking through the dozens or maybe even hundreds of people in the square. There was no way to tell which ones of them were the bounty hunters he had just overheard talking, so there was no way to follow them and find out what exactly was going on. If they were actually talking about Kyla, and she had a bounty, then she was in danger whether or not she was on their ship. Unfortunately, without knowing where Usopp had taken her, there was no way to find the girl and warn her about the oncoming danger. Making up his mind, Sanji muttered an apology to the vendor and started running, bag of vegetables banging against his leg._ _

__\---_ _

__The man with the sword laughed, a sound that made her feel almost nauseous, and gestured to his buddies. “I’ll handle her. You go get the car ready.”_ _

__The two other goons chuckled darkly, and Kyla kept a wary half-eye on them as they passed her and headed out into the street, leaving just her, the creep with a sword, and the receptionist in the room. “Alright, brat. Come at me.” the man smirked, and Kyla let out her best battle cry as she charged him. He easily sidestepped her first swing, and met her second with an exaggerated yawn._ _

__“What was that about making this hard?” he sneered, flicking his wrist and nearly twisting the blade from her hands. His next swing, a lazy-looking swipe, finished the job. Kyla stumbled back, and drew her wooden sword hastily from its place on her hip._ _

__“Little girls should know better than to play with swords.” the man chastised, picking up her weapon and twirling it._ _

__“Give that back!” Kyla screamed, lunging with her wooden sword and striking the man’s knee. He swore, and Kyla snatched the Marine sword as it fell from his grip. It was heavier than her wooden one, she noticed almost absently, and its grip was a bit too big for her hand to wrap around comfortably._ _

__“You little cunt!” the man yelled, raising his sword and bringing it down hard enough to embed the blade in the hardwood floor. And embed it did, as Kyla leapt sideways and sprinted over to the half-circle of armchairs. The Marine sword went back in her rope belt, and she gripped the hilt of her wooden one firmly. Breathe in for ten-and-one, out for seven. The man wrenched his sword from the floor, and his eyes were wild as he wheeled to face her._ _

__“I was gonna take you alive for the whole bounty,” he hissed, shifting his grip on the sword so it caught the light dangerously. “But I can live with losing a few thousand beri.”_ _

__Kyla dove under one of the armchairs as he charged blindly towards her, and the piece of furniture split in two as she slid out on the other side. This time he sword came free as she regained her feet, and Kyla ducked under his next swing. Her shoulders were starting to ache from holding the sword out in front of her, and she lunged in to slam her bladeless weapon into the side of his knee._ _

__The man staggered, and made another clumsy swing. Kyla ducked again, felt the blade clip through her hair, and found herself standing directly in front of him. The strike was more reflex than anything, and looking back she would say she learnt it before she even left Nareta, but in the moment Kyla simply released her left hand from the hilt of her sword, balled it into a fist, and as the man swung again she drove her knuckles into his crotch._ _

__He made a shrill sound of pain, and Kyla felt cold steel against the back of her arm. The sword clattered to the floor, and she leapt back as the man collapsed to his knees with tears in his eyes. Releasing her wooden sword with her right hand, she clapped it over the place where his sword had brushed against her. The sleeve of her shirt was torn, but she must’ve gotten incredibly lucky because her arm was untouched. The man began staggering back to his feet, and Kyla gave her practice weapon a half twirl before flicking it into its loop on her rope belt. Hopping back, she grabbed his sword and heaved it from the floor._ _

__“Said I’d make this tricky, didn’t I?” she panted, shoulders screaming as she struggled to hold the weapon high enough to point at him._ _

__\---_ _

__It took the longest five minutes of Sanji’s life to get back to the Sunny, and as he thundered up onto the deck Nami stopped tending her trees. “Sanji? What’s wrong, you’re never this quick with your shopping.”_ _

__Sanji dropped his bags on the deck, not even caring if the produce inside got bruised. “Where’s Usopp?”_ _

__“Was someone asking for the great Captain Usopp? Because here I am, returned from the important mission of delivering a beautiful princess safely to her new home. You see, I had to fight off several hundred angry tigers on the way, but- OW!”_ _

__Sanji had no time for Usopp’s tall tales, and stalked over to grab his friend by the nose and pull him in close. “Where’s Kyla?” he nearly snarled, glaring at the sniper._ _

__“Sanji, you know where she is." Nami sighed, and he didn't have to look to know she was frowning. "Usopp dropped her off at the orphanage, because she can’t stay with us. Or do you not remember that conversation? You can’t just change your mind and bring her back on board, it’s not safe for her. Now let go of his nose.”_ _

__Sanji did as he was told, but for once could barely restrain himself from snapping at the ever-sensible Nami. “Kyla isn’t safe there." he ground out through gritted teeth. "I overheard some bounty hunters at the market saying that they saw her at the orphanage, and they’re going to try to turn her in for a bounty.” Both of his crewmates paled, and Sanji cursed himself for not realizing sooner that her attack on a Marine officer couldn’t go without consequences. “So where is this orphanage?”_ _

__“At the top of the hill, there’s a big building that looks like a castle. Turn left there, and it’s the mansion on the second corner.”_ _

__Sanji didn’t even pause to thank Usopp for the directions before sprinting off into town, taking the steep main street up as fast as he could. He considered using Sky Walk to go even faster, but he didn’t want to chance getting the directions confused by leaving the street, so he trusted any other pedestrians to just get out of his way. He knew there was a chance he had misheard, or that the bounty hunters were going to the wrong place, but he really couldn’t risk it. If there was even the slightest chance that Kyla was in danger, he needed to make sure that she was okay._ _

__He wasn’t sure how long it took him to get to the top of the hill, or how many people he had knocked over on his mad dash up, but as he skidded around the corner Sanji heard the sound of fighting from the building Usopp had indicated as the orphanage where Kyla was. He saw red, and the people around him dove for cover as flames of rage started licking the pavement around his feet. It only took a few seconds to reach the door, which he kicked off its hinges and straight into the far wall. Motion in the lobby skidded to a halt as he stood in the doorway, framed in flames which would catch on the antique wood if he stayed still for too long._ _

__The stunned silence only lasted a few racing heartbeats before it was broken by a single clear voice from off to his right. “Mom?”_ _

__There, in the middle of a semicircle of chairs, stood Kyla. She had a real sword in her hands, pointed at a man at least twice her size. The second he laid eyes on the cook, however, the coward made a break for it, literally jumping out the window as Sanji stormed over. He wanted nothing more than to track down the man who had dared attack Kyla and beat him within an inch of his life, but for now what was important was that his baby girl was there and safe. The look on her face, happy and confused and a little bit scared, reminded him that he was probably still on fire, and he patted out the last of the flames before crouching down to envelop her in a hug. She grabbed him back immediately, dropping her sword with a clatter and burying her face in his shoulder._ _

__“What are you doing here?" she half sobbed, muffled by his jacket. "I thought you guys were gonna leave.”_ _

__“That was a mistake." he murmured into her hair. As slowly as he could, Sanji pulled away until he was looking Kyla straight in the eyes. When he was sure he could get everything out without tearing up, he said the words he’d been wanting to ever since the incident with the Marines. "As long as I live, I will never let anyone take you away from me ever again. Do you understand, Kyla?”_ _

__The dark skinned girl blinked away tears, nodding as her grin widened, and Sanji hugged her again before picking her up and settling her on his hip. With the arm not supporting her, he picked up her bag of things, which was helpfully set out on one of the lobby's couches. Making the connection, he turned to the woman working at the desk, who had been shocked into silence by his entrance and hadn't moved the whole time he was there._ _

__“Did you tell them that they could take her?” he demanded, letting Kyla scoop the blade to her chest and shouldering the small- and disproportionately heavy- bag containing the rest of her worldly possessions._ _

__“They- they had the paperwork, sir." the woman sounded more confused than frightened. "Anyone wanted by the Marines is-”_ _

__“She is a _child_!” Sanji snapped, interrupting what was evidently a memorized spiel. Never before had the cook felt such anger or contempt towards a woman, and he hoped he never would again. He felt a little bad for shouting at someone who so clearly had many wonderful things to offer the world, but at the moment all he really cared about was the girl clinging to his collar with one tiny hand._ _

__"It isn’t my place to be questioning the Marines’ decisions.” the woman finished lamely. At the very least, Sanji had to admit that she had guts. Sighing, he turned to leave, only for the receptionist to call out to him in a much firmer voice than before. “I’m sorry, sir, but once children have been checked in they are not allowed to leave the premises unless accompanied by a parent or official guardian.”_ _

__Sanji had to forcibly remind himself that no woman, no matter her crime, deserved to be struck in any way shape or form as he turned back around. He knew from experience that when he was in this kind of mood things tended to spontaneously combust around him, and while property damage to orphanages wasn’t really the best thing to be endorsing, this one had attempted to give Kyla over to bounty hunters. With that in mind he turned around, shifting his weight so that Kyla could sit more comfortably on his hip with her- when did she get that third sword? Nevermind, questions could be asked later._ _

__“Well then, I guess everything is alright." he knew it wasn't helpful to use such a condescending tone, but he couldn't quite help himself. "You see, as it clearly states on the bounty poster you valued more than a child’s life, she is the daughter of one Black Leg Sanji. So really, you’re just letting her mother take her back, now aren’t you?” With that, he turned on his heel and walked out, letting people stare as much as they wanted as he took his baby girl back home to their ship._ _

__When the harbor came into sight, and Sanji had almost finished calming down, Kyla tugged on his collar to get his full attention. “You told that lady you were my mother." she mumbled into his ear when he inclined his head. "I thought you said you weren’t anybody’s mom.”_ _

__Ah. He had said that, hadn’t he? To Robin, when he’d thought they were alone. She’d summarily reprimanded him, but if Kyla hadn’t heard that part… “Kyla, no matter what anyone else says, you are my daughter. And if that means I’m your mom, then I’m your mom. Just remember, you’re the only one who gets to say it, all right? I retain full rights to beat up anyone else who tries to call me their mom. Especially that moss ball, even if he’s teaching you how to fight.”_ _

__That got a giggle out of her, and the last of the rage from earlier finally drained out of Sanji. While there was no way in hell he was ever going to let Kyla leave the crew now, he really didn’t think anyone would have a problem with it._ _


	12. Epilogue

On the deck of a certain floating restaurant in the East Blue, former pirate Red Leg Zeff grinned at the piece of paper in his hand. It had fallen out of the newspaper Patty bought earlier, and now the whole of the kitchen staff was trying not to laugh themselves stupid. They were failing, for the most part, but it was understandable given the latest bounty poster coming out of the Grand Line.

The child had to be at least five years old, and Sanji had only been gone for two. In theory, her mother could have been a patron of the Baratie, but none of the young chef’s flirting had ever been reciprocated beyond a smile and polite dismissal. The numbers didn’t add up, but the child certainly did have their quick-tempered blond’s curly eyebrows. Had she not been far too old, and far too dark, she might have been, at a glance, mistakable for what the Marines claimed her to be. Zeff stood, and brought the wanted poster out into the restaurant to hang next to Sanji’s first. Even if she was adopted- and wasn’t _that_ a thought, Sanji choosing to raise a child which wasn’t his- she was family now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I didn’t want to mark this fic as “inspired by” anything, but I would like to credit three wonderful fics from this site for making me think about the Straw Hats with a small child. [Through Children’s Eyes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/10268), [’Til You Feel it All Around You](http://archiveofourown.org/works/92932), and [Jiji](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3225998). I also have to give some credit to [The Annoying Thing About Happy Endings…](http://maldoror-gw.livejournal.com/35102.html) from maldoror-gw on LJ.


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